Head Trauma
by IWillBelieveIt
Summary: After the defeat of KORPS, the team are sent to rescue a girl from an abandoned KORPS base. What they don't expect to find is Zoe - more broken than they could have ever thought possible. But she can barely look Dan in the eye. What have KORPS done to her to make her this way and why does she think that Dan's the one who did it? Rated for mentions of rape and self-harm.
1. Long Lost Love

**Normally, I wouldn't start a new story until one of my other ones are finished, but I couldn't resist because hey, I finished writing 'Dark Angel' yesterday and I really wanted to get a start on this one. So, here I am with 'Head Trauma'!**

* * *

From her spot several seats from the front of the class, Aneisha could clearly see what each of her teammates were doing. Keri was on SnapChatting her friend Trina, Tom was playing a _Blade Quest _video game on his 3DS under the table and Dan looked bored and lost in his own thoughts. She could see him playing with his phone – throwing it up into the air and catching it. Again and again and again he did this, until their pencil communicators started flashing, for the first time since they'd been reinstated. Immediately, Dan reanimated, Keri put her phone in her pocket and Tom snapped his 3DS shut. While Mr Flatley's back was turned, the three teens snuck out of class and ran to the caretakers cupboard. When they reached it, Aneisha noticed in amusement that Dan almost slammed into the door in his excitement and Keri had to stifle her laughter. Shaking her head and biting back a smile of her own, Aneisha scanned her thumb until the door clicked open and the four teens squeezed inside. Dan nodded to Keri and she pulled on the broom handle that had a weird arrow engraved into it, but it immediately sent the floor dropping below them. As their clothes changed, Dan looked across at his friends. Keri was wearing her familiar high boots and leather jacket, Tom was wearing that black shirt that had some graphics that related to computers that Dan didn't fully understand, Aneisha was wearing her shorts and leather vest and Dan was back in his comfortable boots and jacket.

"So team, are you ready for a new mission?" Frank asked as the lift doors opened, revealing his team.

Aneisha nodded, all of them smirking.

"Welcome back to MI High." Frank said as the four teens walked up to the table.

"What's our mission?" Dan asked, eager to get straight into it.

"Although KORPS, officially, have been defeated," Frank began, "there are still a lot of KORPS bases that are still fully functional. The St Peter's Child Care is one such base." He said, pulling up a photo of what looked like any other kindergarten.

"Run out of dreary warehouses, did they?" Tom remarked, grinning.

"Your mission is simple." Frank said. "Arrest any KORPS agents that may be hanging around, but apparently there is a girl being held captive there. Priority is to get to her."

Dan nodded, looking excited. "Mission on."

The three field agents started to walk out as Tom sat down at the computer, but Frank called Keri back. Dan and Aneisha hung in the doorway, unsure if they should stay or go.

"Uh . . . Go one without me, guys. I'll catch up." Keri said. Dan shrugged and walked into the lift, Aneisha following close behind him.

"What's up, Frank?" Keri asked.

"Can you do me a favour? Keep an eye on Dan while you're on this mission." Frank said.

Keri's brow furrowed. "Why would I need to keep an eye on him? Dan can look after himself."

Frank sighed and pulled up a new photo onto the screen. "_This _is why. This is the girl you're rescuing."

Keri stared at the photo. She's seen photos of that girl before, but in those she was happy and healthy. In this photo her skin was an unhealthy shade of white and she was too thin. _Way _too thin.

"That's . . . That's not – " Keri stuttered, unable to get her words out.

"That's your sister. V.9.5.Z.O.E.6." Frank said gravely. "Also known as Zoe London."

Keri felt unsure of how to react. "The same Zoe that Dan's –"

"In love with." Frank said. "Please keep an eye on him, Keri. He can be very . . . passionate when it comes to Zoe."

Tom was staring at the photo as Keri nodded and walked out. "That explains why I haven't heard from her since . . ."

"We have intelligence that suggests she's been imprisoned since before the Mata Hari conspiracy." Frank replied.

Tom cursed under his breath. "You know Dan's going to be impossible, don't you?"

* * *

Dan pushed the door to the child care open, his every sense alert, his muscles tensed. In here, it looked like an ordinary child care waiting room. But Dan knew better.

Walking over to the door to his right, the two girl hot on his heels, Dan pushed it open and walked into the corridor. Now _this _was the type of KORPS base he loved to hate – dark, damp and cold.

"Here we go." Aneisha muttered. Dan smirked as he walked down the corridor, his fists raised in preparation for a fight. He noticed a door off to his right and he eased it open with his foot, sticking his head inside. It seemed empty and he let his arms drop to his sides as he walked in, Aneisha and Keri following. Dan looked around and was about to walk out when he heard something that sounded like a whimper.

"Did you hear that?" Dan asked, listening for the sound again.

"It sounded like a dog." Aneisha said.

"That's no dog." Keri said, staring at something over Dan's shoulder. Dan whirled and peered into the shadows, finally making out the shape of a girl. A girl he knew all too well.

It had been a while since he'd seen her, and just like he, she had changed, although these changes weren't for the better. Her auburn hair hung limply on her shoulders and it didn't look as bright as it used to – it looked pale, as if the life had been sucked out of it. Her skin was pulled taut over her bones, as if she'd only had very little food lately. It was her eyes that struck Dan the hardest. Those eyes, those eyes that had seemed to be able to see into his soul at times, those eyes that had conveyed everything she felt in a single look, now held nothing. Those eyes were so haunted, it made Dan's heart constrict in his chest. He ached to make that look go away as he uttered a single word. A name.

"_Zoe?"_


	2. Trust

"Zoe." Dan said softly, starting towards her. Zoe made that whimpering sound again and pushed herself farther back into the wall against her back, as if she could make herself disappear inside it. Dan immediately stopped, his brows drawn together as he tried to work out why she would be acting like this.

"Dan, stay back." Keri said, pushing past him and walking slowly over to her sister. Zoe turned her face away from Keri, squeezing her eyes shut to hide her tears. Aneisha's fingers closed around Dan's forearm, but whether it was to steady herself or to stop him from running forward, he wasn't sure.

"Zoe." Keri said softly. For the first time, she noticed Zoe's clothes. She was wearing skinny jeans and an off-shoulder t-shirt paired with black boots, but both her jeans and her shirt were so dirty that they appeared black. Her boots had holes in the toes and it was obvious that the clothes provided little protection from the cold air, from the way Zoe was shivering. She also noticed the dark circles under Zoe's eyes.

Zoe turned to look at her sister, her expression wary and terrified at the same time. "How do you know my name?"

Keri smiled gently. "I've heard a lot about you."

Zoe looked up at Dan and Aneisha and then looked back at Keri. "Are you going to hurt me too?"

"No." Keri said. "You're safe now. I promise." She offered Zoe her hand and Zoe looked cautiously at Keri, then Dan, then Keri again, then Aneisha before going back to Keri. Deciding that she could trust her, Zoe took Keri's hand and allowed her to pull her to her feet. Keri noticed that Zoe's skin was cold to the touch as she tentatively wrapped her arm around Zoe's shoulders, which her sister reluctantly allowed her to do. Keri turned to Dan and Aneisha, keeping her expression neutral and her voice low so that she wouldn't scare Zoe. Already, Keri knew that there was something very, very wrong here. From the look on Dan's face, the Zoe that Keri had her arms around was _not _the Zoe that he had fallen in love with, the Zoe that had broken his heart when she left him.

"You two go in front." Keri told Dan and Aneisha, giving them a pointed look. Numb, Dan just turned and started walking out the door, Aneisha beside him and the broken shell of the girl he loved walking beside her sister behind him.

* * *

By the time they got back to HQ, Dan's shock had worn off and while Keri went off to get Zoe cleaned up, he stalked up to Frank and yelled, "Why the hell didn't you tell us we were rescuing Zoe?"

"Because you've always had a hard time separating your emotions from your duty when it comes to Zoe, Dan." Frank replied calmly.

"A hard . . . Not always. If I remember correctly, I _hated _her when we first met." Dan shot back.

"And if _I _remember correctly, you were so wound up in your hatred for her that you would have rathered stay here and guard her than go and capture the Grand Master." Frank answered.

Dan sighed, looking away. He wasn't sure what to say to that. When he looked back at Frank, there was tears sparkling in his blue eyes. "What happened to her? She's not . . . That's not the Zoe I –" He cut himself off, leaving Aneisha, Tom and Frank to work out the end of the sentence. There were a billion different ways that that sentence could have been finished, but they all knew that only one way was the way Dan would have finished it.

Before Frank could answer, Keri walked in, tears sparkling in her eyes. As soon as Dan looked up and saw her, a million questions lodged themselves into his head. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Keri said, brushing her tears away. "Calm down. Relax. Zoe looks like she hasn't been eating much. She's ridiculously thin, so I gave her some food and water, some fresh clothes and made her get some sleep. I'm more worried about her injuries."

"Her injuries?" Dan asked, not fully comprehending.

"Here." Keri said, pushing a camera across the table towards him. As Dan turned it on, Keri continued talking, although she wasn't too far from bursting into tears. She acted tough, but she had the same gentle heart that Zoe did. "She has bruises and healing wounds all over her body, there's a line of scars on her right arm and she has a lot of spots that are just generally sore, especially around her upper legs."

All of a sudden, Dan felt sick. He didn't like where this was going. He didn't want to listen anymore, but he had to. He had to know what was wrong with Zoe so that he could fix it. He glanced at Aneisha, who looked horrified. Tom had stopped tapping at his computer keyboard and remained completely still. Dan looked back at Keri, who looked so close to tears that she had to keep blinking them away. "What exactly are you saying, Keri?"

Keri swallowed, brushing her tears away with the back of her hand. "I think they raped her, Dan."

"I've gotta sit down." Dan said. His breathing was heavy and everyone around him could see that he was having a hard time processing what he'd just been told.

"Keri, are you sure?" Aneisha asked.

"She's definitely been abused in some way." Keri replied. "But the way she was limping any time she was on her feet . . . She's definitely been . . . violated."

Dan swallowed, raising his head. Keri noticed that his eyes sparkled with tears and her heart ached for her friend as he said, "That still doesn't explain why she couldn't look at me for more than a second at a time. She even . . . She even had trouble looking at Neish. What else did they do to her?"

"They put a block on her mind." Tom replied, spinning in his chair so he was facing his friends.

"A block in her . . ." Dan trailed off.

Tom nodded. "KORPS have obviously been messing with her head. It looks like they've messed up her memories."

Dan's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by 'messed up', Tom? What have they done to her?"

Tom took a deep breath. "They've made her think you raped her, Dan."


	3. Promises

"How do you know that?" Keri asked.

"Because they've programmed it into her brain." Tom replied. "They've programmed her to think that."

"That explains why she's so . . . broken." Aneisha said.

"How?" Dan asked angrily. "How does this explain anything except for the fact that KORPS are a bunch of sadistic bastards?"

"Think about it." Aneisha told him. "Think about crazy she was about you last year. She's never loved anyone, Dan, _except for you. _And suddenly, she has all these memories of the boy she loves taking advantage of her. Put yourself in her position, just for a second. How do you think you'd feel if your roles were reversed?"

"I'd just want to give up." Dan said quietly, all his anger gone. Suddenly he shot up from his seat, snatching the camera off the table and switching it on again. He quickly flicked through the photos of Zoe's injuries until he found the photo he was looking for. When he found it, he stared at it for a long time until Frank's voice saying him brought him back to reality.

"Dan? What's wrong?"

Dan turned the camera around so they could see the photo of Zoe's forearm, covered in thin, straight white lines. "Those scars are too . . . perfect to be accidental."

Keri nodded, but Aneisha and Tom looked confused, while Frank looked ready to burst with his anger. Despite his chastising Dan for being unable to separate his emotions from his duty when it came to Zoe, Dan knew that Frank was no better. Zoe was like the daughter that Frank had never had, so he fought just as hard as Dan did to keep his emotions in check when it came to her.

"You don't think –" Frank started.

Dan sighed, looking down at the photo. "I wish it wasn't. But they look too deliberate. Zoe's been cutting herself."

"No." Aneisha breathed. "No, she wouldn't!"

Dan turned to Tom. "How do we fix it? How do we make her remember?"

"Well, I can't do it, that's for sure." Tom replied. "It's like she's got amnesia. She has to remember on her own."

Keri could see how deeply Dan felt this – how much this was hurting him. For months, he'd wished for her return, but now she was here, but she wasn't the same. She was broken and she wasn't entirely sure if she could be fixed.

Dan gave Keri a pained look. "Can I see her?"

"She asleep –" Keri started.

"Keri." Dan said quietly. "Please."

* * *

Dan's eyebrows knitted together as he knelt down beside Zoe's bed. Even in her thin, malnourished and abused state, she was still the most beautiful, amazing creature he'd ever come across in his short sixteen years. Dan's eyes trailed to Zoe's right arm, hanging off the edge of the bed. He could see the code stamped into her skin, the code that marked her as a clone of the Mastermind. He could see the scars Keri had taken photos of on her forearm – the thin parallel lines marked into her pale skin.

"I love you, Zo." Dan whispered, his expression pained. "I hope that you'll remember that one day."

Zoe simply rolled over in her sleep, turning her back on him as if she knew he was there. Dan sighed, wishing he could find some way away from the pain. He'd never thought he could feel any worse than he did when Zoe left, but he was wrong. This . . . seeing her so abused, so broken like this . . . that pain was a hundred times worse than it had when she left because the pain that her departure had caused . . . that was entirely his own. Seeing Zoe like this . . . it hurt him so much, knowing that she was suffering so much and he couldn't do anything about it, couldn't do anything to help her. He hadn't even _begun _to come to terms with the fact that she thought _he _was the one who hurt her. He was still trying to process the fact that someone had been heartless enough to want to hurt her, hurt Zoe. Zoe, the most beautiful, selfless, amazing person he'd ever met in his entire life.

"I'll find who did this to you and make them pay, Zoe. I promise."

With that, he got up and walked out. He passed Keri and Aneisha on his way out and Keri turned to look at him as he passed her. "Dan?"

Dan didn't give her the time of day as he walked into the lift and immediately, Keri started after him. She was unused to seeing that look in Dan's eyes, but it was one that she recognised. It was a look she had seen countless times in the eyes of KORPS agents.

"Dan!" Keri shouted, moving into the lift.

Dan pushed the door open and stormed out into the playground. School had ended a little over four hours, so the playground was empty and bathed in half-darkness.

"Dan!" Keri yelled, grabbing his arm and pulling him around to face her.

"Keri, what the hell?" Dan yelled, turning to face her.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Keri asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They _raped_ her, Keri. I can't let that go."

"No one expects you to. Dan, if you're planning to actually find the man who did this to her, it's a suicide mission." Keri said. "And what happens if you actually find him? What if you kill him? What happens then?"

"I'll figure that out when I get there." Dan replied, turning away.

"Well, you can't come back here!" Keri cried after him. Dan stopped, but he didn't turn back around as she said, "If you walk out that gate right now, I'm not letting you _anywhere _near my sister."

Dan paused. "What if I stay?"

"You help us bring back the Zoe you knew." Keri replied. "But if you leave, you're not going anywhere near her. I mean it, Dan."


	4. The False Memories They Put In Her Head

"_You help us bring back the Zoe you knew." Keri replied. "But if you leave, you're not going anywhere near her. I mean it, Dan."_

Dan sighed. His conflicting emotions kept crashing against each other. Part of him wanted to stay here, to bring Zoe back to herself, but he couldn't deny that he wanted to make the man who'd done this to Zoe pay. Finally, he turned and brushed past Keri, walking back inside the school. Keri smiled to herself before she followed him back inside.

* * *

Dan sat down in a chair, dipping his head back and closing his eyes as he groaned. He didn't even look up as Keri walked in. She gave Dan a quick smile before she walked into the next room, where she'd left Zoe sleeping.

When Keri walked in, Zoe was awake, looking around her. As soon as she saw Keri, she backed up into the wall like a frightened and cornered animal. Keri immediately stopped moving and watched her sister with sad blue eyes. "Zoe?"

"Who are you? Where am I? What am I doing here?" Zoe asked, her voice tiny. She'd changed out of her filthy and worn clothes they'd found her in and now donned a pair of black leggings, a green tank top, black boots and dark blue jacket.

"My name's Keri. I'm your sister." Keri said. "You're here because we rescued you. Do you remember what your name is?"

"Of course I do." Zoe snapped. "My name's Zoe."

Keri nodded. "You hungry?"

Zoe nodded warily, watching Keri as she walked out. Only ten minutes later, Keri returned, carrying a tray with a plate and a drink bottle on it. Keri carefully placed it down on the floor beside Zoe's bed before she backed up, keeping her hands by her sides where Zoe could see them.

Still looking slightly like a caged animal, Zoe kept her eyes fixed on Keri as she snatched up the plate of food from the tray and placed it in her lap. She gave Keri one last cautious glance before she turned her attention back to her food, scoffing it down so fast that she didn't even bother to recognise that it was pasta. Zoe choked on her food several times during her meal and each time, she'd simply force herself to swallow it and have a quick swig of the water in the drink bottle before she returned to her food while Keri watched sadly. This girl, although she'd only just met her, was as much her sister as Libi was and she was having to force down her food and nearly have a heart attack whenever anyone came near her while Libi was safe and sound in her MI9 foster home. It wasn't fair.

When Zoe was done, she placed the plate and drink bottle back on the tray and slowly raised her eyes to meet Keri's. The two girls stared at each other for a long time until Zoe thanked her, her voice quiet and childlike.

Keri took the tray away. When she came back, she decided to try something. "Zoe, do you remember where your name came from?"

"From here." Zoe said, pushing up the sleeve of her jacket to show Keri the 'V.9.5.Z.O.E.6' stamped into her skin. "Aneisha Jones saw the 'Zoe' in my name and then, from then on, that's what everyone, what Aneisha, what Tom, what Frank and what . . . Dan called me."

"Zoe?" Keri said softly. "Do you . . . Do you remember how you got to that KORPS base?"

Zoe nodded slowly, pushing her jacket sleeve back down and wrapping her arms around herself, but she made no move to say anything.

"Can you tell me?" Keri asked finally, realising that Zoe wasn't going to tell her of her own accord.

"About . . . two months after I found about . . . Mastermind and everything, I had Dan over. We were just watching a movie when he kissed me." Zoe said.

"And then what happened?" Keri asked.

Zoe looked away, her breathing coming in heavy gasps as she tried desperately to hold her tears back. Even so, when she looked back at Keri, her broken green eyes sparkled with tears and even though Keri had only known this girl for a little over a few hours, it broke her heart to see Zoe like this as she whimpered, "Then he raped me. And took me to that KORPS base because he never really wanted me."

She curled up and started sobbing on the bed. Keri moved towards her and rested her hand on Zoe's arm, but then Zoe whimpered and cringed away from her, whimpering like an injured dog. Keri withdrew her hand and watched her sister, so broken, so helpless, for a moment before she got up and walked out.

She wasn't surprised to find Dan leaning against the wall. From the broken look in Dan's eyes, paired with his stubborn temperament and his inability to think clearly whenever there was something wrong with Zoe, Keri didn't find it surprising to learn that he'd heard every word that had Zoe had just said.


	5. How He Knows

"Come with me." Keri said, walking down the corridor and into the room at the end. Dan flopped onto the couch, his face lifted towards the ceiling as Keri perched on the armrest, watching him curiously. Finally, she asked, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough." Dan grunted. He pulled his body up so he was sitting up properly and turned to look at Keri. "Enough to know that Tom's right. That Zoe believes that I'm a rapist."

"It'll be okay, Dan." Keri said gently. "It's just going to take time."

"She had to choke down her food." Dan said miserably. He looked down, running a hand through his hair. "I just don't get how she can have memories of things that didn't happen. I mean, that movie night kiss never happened."

Keri glanced across at him. "Did you ever stay at her house and watch movies?"

"Yeah." Dan replied, looking bored.

"Did you ever kiss?" Keri asked.

"I am not telling _you_." Dan hissed, his eyes suddenly hostile.

"Did. You ever. Kiss?" Keri repeated, standing up and turning to face him, crossing her arms over her chest.

Dan remained silent, glaring up at her with soundless enmity.

"Answer me!" Keri shouted.

"Fine, yes, we kissed!" Dan shouted. "Are you happy now?"

"No." Keri replied, sinking down miserably into the couch beside him. "Because I think I know how they did it."

"How?"

"They mixed up her memories. They locked away the ones they didn't want her to have access to – like her leaving – with a mind block and then they jumbled up the ones they had left."

"But that doesn't make sense." Dan said. "The movie night and the kiss were on completely different days. We kissed before she left and the day she left. "

"So they locked away the fact that she left." Keri said. "But they didn't block the kiss."

Dan nodded, his jaw clenched and his eyes hard and angry. "She doesn't deserve this."

"No one deserves this." Keri replied, tucking her legs underneath her body.

"I wanted to go with her. I _should've _gone with her." Dan said. "But . . . she said she wanted to go alone and being the goddamn idiot I am, I let her go."

He threw something across the room and Keri jumped as it collided loudly with the wall. Dan simply sat back against the couch, staring at the wall. "I should've gone with her. Then maybe I'd be the one who was broken beyond repair instead of her."

Something in that statement sparked a question in Keri. She thought about just leaving it be, but it was the kind of question that burned inside you, the kind of question that if you didn't ask it, you felt like it would burn through you from the inside out.

"Dan . . . how did you know that Zoe had been cutting herself, just from looking at her scars?" Keri asked.

"Just by looking at them." Dan replied. "They're too even, too precise to have been accidental. And plus, I know Zoe. She's a bit of a perfectionist." He didn't even glance at Keri while he spoke, but when he was done, he looked over at her and sighed. "You're never going to let this go until I tell you, are you?"

Keri shook her head and Dan sighed again.

"And probably because . . . I have personal experience in what deliberate cuts looks like." He said, unzipping his jacket and shrugging out of it. He swung his right arm out to the side, forearm up, towards Keri. He kept his eyes focused forward as Keri gasped, grasping his arm in both hands. He knew what she saw – he'd seen them on his skin every day for the past two years.

Keri didn't speak for a long time and for a minute Dan wondered if he'd just overloaded the poor girl's brain. She'd had to take in a lot in the past couple of hours. He'd never felt so glad to hear her voice as when she said, "These are old."

"Yeah." Dan replied, wriggling his fingers.

"What happened?" Keri asked.

"When I was fourteen . . . I had a lot going on." Dan started. "My parents split up, my grandad died. And I'd always felt like . . . like I didn't really belong anywhere. I'd never really been part of anything and I was losing friends. And then . . . I had my grandad's funeral and my parents started fighting in court over who got full custody of me and the twins and . . . something snapped."

"That's when you started?" Keri asked quietly.

Dan nodded. "I know you probably don't get it. You don't get why anyone would ever want to hurt themselves that way. But there's only so much pain a person can take before they have to do _something _to ease it."

"But did you . . . Did you ever . . ." Keri trailed off, unable to get the words out.

"Become suicidal?" Dan asked. "No. But I came close a few times."

Deciding that Keri had seen enough of his scars, he gently pulled his arm away and put his jacket back on.

"What changed?" Keri asked. "What made you stop?"

Dan was silent for a long time, staring at something that Keri couldn't see. Finally, he said, "I met Zoe."

Keri smiled sadly as he said, "She had had the worst upbringing imaginable and yet she was the most beautiful, the happiest person that I'd ever met in my life. I'd thought that it was just a ruse, but then I saw her wrists and there were no scars. So I stopped. I stopped cutting and I fell for her instead."


	6. You Saved Me

_Dan shut the door behind him, his sapphire eyes looking quickly around the room that looked as if a bomb had exploded within its confides. Clothes were everywhere, the bedside table was turned on its side and the covers on the bed had pulled off to sit on the floor at the end of the bed. On top of them sat Zoe, her auburn hair a colossal mess and her clothes rumpled, as if she hadn't changed them. Her head was in her hands and Dan could hear her sobbing._

"_Zoe?" Dan questioned, taking a venturous step into the crash zone. He knelt down beside her and touched her shoulder. Zoe pushed her messy auburn hair out of her eyes and looked up at him, tears shining in her beautiful green orbs. Without a word, Dan wrapped his arms around her and let her cry as she nestled her head in the crook of his neck. _

"_I'm just like _him_." Zoe whimpered. "I'm just like Mastermind. I'm a monster."_

"_Hey. No, no you're not." Dan said, pulling away and staring into her eyes. "You're _nothing _like him."_

"_How? How am I anything but exactly like him?" Zoe asked. "All I've done is cause you guys trouble. Prove to me, Dan, that I'm anything but the monster that he is."_

"_Because you saved me." Dan said. "Without even knowing it, you saved me, Zo."_

"_What are you talking about?" Zoe asked._

_Dan took a deep breath. He'd never showed anyone his scars before. Before he could talk himself out of it, Dan pushed the sleeves of his jacket up and showed her his forearms. Zoe stared at his arms for a long time, each white line that was forever marked into his skin forever marking her mind, reminding her of the hardships he'd faced in his sixteen years._

"_What . . . Please don't tell me they're what I think they are." Zoe whispered finally._

"_What do you think they are?" Dan asked quietly. _

"_Please don't tell me you cut yourself." Zoe whimpered. _

"_Used to." Dan said._

_Zoe reached out and touched the scars gently and Dan shivered, her touch sending the electricity that crackled between them flying across his skin where she touched. "What made you stop?"_

_Dan assessed her expression carefully before he answered, "You."_

_Zoe's brow furrowed. "Me? What did I do? I only knew about them about two minutes ago."_

"_Zo." Dan said gently, taking her hand and turning it over so he could see her own forearm, her skin pale and flawless, unmarked by the scars that marked his own sun-browned skin. Zoe looked up at him curiously as his thumb brushed across her skin and she shivered. It was such a simple movement of his fingers, but there was something sensual about it, something that seemed to burn right through her, right down to her nervous system. _

"_Zoe, you have been through so much." Dan whispered, his fingers still gliding across her skin. "You grew up in SKUL. You spent your whole life thinking you have no family. You found out that you had a sister, only to have that ripped away and told she's not your sister, Zo, but you're both clones of the Mastermind. And . . ." he looked down at Zoe's unmarked wrists, a small smile tugging at his mouth. "You've never even scratched yourself on purpose. And yet . . . I've gone through all these little things and I have all these scars." He laughed bitterly. "I guess that proves just how strong I am, huh?"_

"_No, no, no. Dan, listen." Zoe said, taking his face in her hands. "Those scars . . . they don't make you weak, okay? They make you so much stronger than you could ever imagine because Dan, you had all this pain, but you're still here." Tentatively, she placed her hand against his chest, over the spot where his heart was pumping blood through his body. "_This _is still working, Dan. That makes you the strongest person I know."_

_Dan shook his head. "No. That means I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for you, Zo."_

_He was suddenly all-too aware of Zoe's hands on his face and chest, the way his fingers were loosely gripping her arms. Zoe's green eyes flickered to look up at him, her fingers wrapping around his shirt as he ducked his head and pressed his mouth against hers gently. Zoe gasped into his mouth, tightening her hold on him as she kissed him back, feeling his arms wrap around her waist as he held her closer. _

_Dan spent that night curled up beside Zoe as he slept and Zoe, although she was barely getting enough sleep as it was, couldn't bring herself to sleep. She was too preoccupied with the lines that marked Dan's skin, the battle scars of his pain._

* * *

"Does Zoe know?" Keri asked. "About . . ."

"She did. I don't know if she remembers." Dan replied.

"That room . . . that room we found her in. There was absolutely _nothing _in there. What could she have cut herself on?" Keri asked.

Dan shrugged. "Hard to say. But all I can say is that Zoe's resourceful. She was trained to be that way. This is just one instance where I wish she wasn't so resourceful."

Keri sighed, running a hand through her hair. She suddenly felt mentally and physically drained, as if she could sleep for a thousand years. She couldn't imagine how Dan must feel. From the way he looked, he must have about a thousand times worse.

"Go home, Dan." Keri told him. "Go and get some sleep and we'll work out our plan of action in the morning."

Dan nodded reluctantly and got up. He walked over to the door but paused in the doorway, turning around slowly. "Thank you, Keri. For everything you're doing for her."

Keri smiled. "She's my sister, Dan. I kind of have to."

* * *

**Sorry this chapter's mainly just that flashback, guys, but it's kind of impotant to the storyline and it seemed like the perfect time to put it in now.**


	7. What Do I Need To Do

In the end, he may as well have stayed down in HQ, because he kept tossing and turning that night and anytime he did manage to fall asleep, he'd wake up less than hour later, drenched in sweat as his throat burned.

As a result, he felt like a zombie as he dragged himself out of bed the next morning, but he managed to get himself dressed and out the door in time without making too many noises that suggested to his younger twin brother and sister, Bethany and Jacob, that he'd died in his sleep and awoken as one of the undead.

Even so, as he passed the kitchen, Bethany said, "Danny, are you still alive?"

Dan stuck his head back in. "And why would you ask that, Bethie?"

"Because you sound like a zombie." Jacob answered and immediately both twins erupted into laughter.

"I'd watch out if I were you." Dan said. "Because you know what zombies eat?"

"Brains?" Bethany asked.

"Yes, but whose brains?" Dan asked, now standing beside the table.

"Whose?" Jacob asked.

"Naughty little children!" Dan cried dramatically. Both eight-year-olds shrieked as Dan tickled them, twisting on their seats and flailing helplessly to get him to leave them alone.

"Dan? What's going on in here?" Dan's mother asked as she walked in.

"I," Dan said, immediately moving away from his younger siblings, "am going to school."

With that, he disappeared out of the doorway, leaving two blonde-haired twins staring at their mother as they said; "Danny's a zombie."

The brief spurt of happiness Dan had felt playing with Bethany and Jacob quickly faded as he walked to school, a cloud of dark despair washing over him. He thought of Zoe, down in HQ, with her bruises and cuts and everything else that came with what she'd been through. For the thousandth time since he'd seen her in that base, he wondered how anyone could do this to her, how anyone could be so horrible and sadistic and so unbelievably cruel that they would hurt her like this.

He also wondered if the Zoe he knew and loved was still there. He wondered whether she could still be saved, or whether she was going to be forced to live out her life as a shell of the girl she'd once been.

"So," Dan said, walking into HQ. "What's the plan?"

Frank, Keri, Aneisha and Tom were gathered around the table and Tom shrugged. "Beats me. Keri's refusing to tell us anything."

"Well, I figured I'd wait until Dan's here." Keri replied.

"So what's the plan?" Dan repeated.

"Kind of like when Frank got turned into a super soldier." Keri said. "What made Zoe happy?"

"Friends." Aneisha said.

"Flopsy." Frank said.

"Dan." Tom joked. This got a few giggles from Aneisha, but Dan was staring at the table top, his blue eyes blank.

"Life." Dan said quietly. "She was just generally happy to be alive."

Aneisha's grin faded and she looked down at the table. "Jelly." She said finally. "She loved jelly."

"She liked reading." Tom said. His joking tone was gone; the subdued atmosphere seemed to have reached even him, leaving him quiet.

"She liked learning." Dan said. "And she liked music."

"She liked Ed Sheeran." Aneisha remembered.

"And The Fray." Dan added. "She loved The Fray."

"I think I've got one of their albums." Keri started. "I'll –"

"No." Dan said. "She liked to hear it live."

"I'll just call up Isaac Slade then, shall I?" Keri asked sarcastically.

"Who?" Tom and Aneisha asked.

"Lead singer of The Fray." Dan replied before turning to Keri. "I'll bring my guitar in and play them for her."

* * *

Dan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his head against the doorframe, his eyes focused on the sleeping girl inside the room. Zoe was facing him this time and he studied the way the dim light caught her features, outlining just how thin she'd become since she'd left MI High.

"You realise that when she wakes up, she's going to have a panic attack when she sees you?"

Dan jumped and turned so he could see Keri, who was standing against the wall of the corridor behind him. Without a word, he turned back to Zoe. Keri sighed, brushing past him to sit against the wall inside Zoe's room. Both Dan and Keri were silent for a long time until Dan said, "You seem to know what you're doing with this."

"Libi went through something similar." Keri said.

Dan's eyebrows shot up. "Are you sure it's not just because she's a control freak?"

Keri glared. "Watch it, Morgan. She's my sister and I can easily kick your arse."

Dan sat down, his back against one side of the doorframe. "So what happened to Libi?"

"It started about a month after she was put into her foster home. She just became really scared of me all of a sudden and she started mentioning things that had never even happened, like she'd been brainwashed or something."

"Or she had fake memories." Dan said. "So what, you just did a similar thing to her to what we're doing with Zoe?"

"Pretty much." Keri replied. "Except Libi's was a lot weaker. Libi could remember which of her memories were fake and which were real within twelve hours."

"Why did she have fake memories?" Dan asked.

"Because some guy in KORPS had abused her. Beat her and twisted her memories to think I did it."

"But she was fine with you in The Mayze." Dan replied, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Some weird thing about it only activating when she was away from KORPS." Keri said. "But I know that Zoe's is going to be a lot harder to break."

"Because she was raped, not just abused?" Dan asked.

"And Libi wasn't hurt by the one she loves." Keri said. "That's what's going to make it so much harder – Zoe thinks she's been hurt by the person she loves and it's destroyed her. We're going to have one hell of a time getting the Zoe you know back. Are you up for it?"

Dan answered without hesitation. "What do I need to do?"


	8. Romeo and Juliet Until the End

"Surround her with things she loved, things that made her happy." Keri said. "Try and get her to remember who you and Aneisha and Frank and Tom are. If she's going to get through this, she's going to need her friends."

Dan nodded, looking from Keri to Zoe, who was still asleep. "I'd do anything for her. She's saved my life more times than I can count on my hands."

Keri smiled. "She's lucky to have you."

Dan started to answer, but he caught sight of Zoe turning her head to the side. "She's waking up."

Sure enough, Zoe's eyes flickered open, looking around nervously. A ghost of a smile passed across her features when she saw Keri, until she noticed Dan sitting in the doorway. Her breathing started coming in quick, heavy gasps as she sat up on her bed, scrambling back and kicking the blankets off as her back collided with the wall.

"What is he doing here?" Zoe asked frantically. "He's the one who – who –"

"No, he's not." Keri said, swinging herself onto the bed and grabbing Zoe's arms, putting herself between Zoe's line of sight, so she couldn't see Dan. "Zoe, I promise you, this isn't the one who hurt you."

"I remember his face. I remember his voice. It's _him_." Zoe insisted, her eyes filled with tears.

"It's not him, I promise." Keri said. "Do you trust me?"

Zoe nodded slowly. "I trust you, Keri."

"Then prove it. I promise, I won't let him hurt you." Keri told her. Zoe reluctantly nodded and Keri moved to sit beside Zoe on the bed, her back against the wall. She took Zoe's hand and turned to Dan, beckoning him to come forward.

Dan rose from his spot on the floor slowly, his eyes fixed on Zoe. Zoe trembled into Keri's side as Dan slowly walked towards them, making sure to keep his expression gentle. "Zoe – "

"I know who you are." Zoe said bravely. "You're Dan."

Dan slowly knelt down in front of the bed. "Where do you remember me from?"

"We were in MI High together." Zoe said. "You hated me."

"I only hated you for a little while." Dan said gently.

"But then you pretended to like me. You made me fall in love with you." Zoe said. "Then you raped me and handed me over to KORPS."

"No, Zoe. I never – "

"Are you saying I'm an idiot? I _know _what happened." Zoe said.

Dan didn't say anything. He just watched her carefully, mentally kicking himself up the arse for thinking she was just a shell of the girl she'd been before she left. He could see that same fire in her eyes as she defended herself – the same determination that had made him fall for her. Suddenly, looking at that green fire burning in her eyes, he knew that he could definitely do this – he could bring Zoe back to herself, especially now that he'd seen that glimmer of the girl he loved. Involuntarily, Zoe had given him hope and no matter what, he would not let that hope die. He'd already been through too much with her for that.

"Go and get Aneisha." Keri said quietly.

Dan cast one last glance at Zoe, who looked away from him, before he got up and walked out. As he disappeared through the door, Zoe rested her head on Keri's shoulder and Keri wrapped her arm around her sister, rubbing her arm gently.

Dan walked into the main part of HQ and both Tom and Aneisha looked up. Before either of them could get a word out, Dan said, "Keri wants you in there, Neish."

Aneisha rose from her seat. "She's awake?"

Dan nodded and Aneisha brushed past him. Dan rested against the wall, the memory of Zoe's distrustful eyes burning on the back of his eyelids. He knew that no matter how much time passed, the image would haunt him forever.

"What's with you?" Tom asked.

Dan looked up. "It's complicated."

Tom snorted. "What isn't, these days? Zoe has 86 sisters, Stella's been convicted and cleared of a _fake _conspiracy, Keri's been transferred in and out of her own body, the Crime Minister was the deputy Prime Minster, she's now in MI9 custody, the Mastermind's dead and you and Zoe and you are officially Romeo and Juliet."

Dan had to swallow back tears at that last one. It had been so long since he'd heard that nickname and now, he would gladly hear it every day for the rest of his life if it meant that Zoe had never been hurt like this.

"So what's up with you?" Tom asked.

"It's nothing, just . . . " Dan sighed, taking Aneisha's empty seat. "I saw her, Tom."

"We all saw her." Tom replied, not comprehending. "Aneisha and Keri are in with her now."

"No, that's not what I meant." Dan said. He didn't get it. How could he talk to Keri about this, who'd never even met Zoe before they'd found her at that KORPS base, but he couldn't even begin to explain it to Tom? Dan fumbled for words for a minute before he gave up, sighing as he sat back in his chair. "Forget it."

Tom wished he could say something to comfort him, but he came up with nothing except for: "She loved you, you know. Deep down I think she still does."

Dan smiled bitterly. "And deep down, _ I _knew that. And yet, I let her get on that plane and leave. And now look where we are."

"This isn't your fault, Dan." Tom said. He couldn't believe that Dan was blaming himself for this, but in a sick, twisted sense, it did make sense. Dan always had expected too much of himself. The fact that Zoe believed that Dan was the culprit probably wasn't helping matters.

"I could've gone with her." Dan said.

"It's not your fault." Tom felt like a broken record, repeating the same things over and over. He'd lost count how many times he'd said that sentence to the blonde whenever something had gone wrong on any mission over the past two years, but either Dan was incredibly stubborn or just thick, because it never seemed to get through to him.

Dan smiled ruefully. "Romeo and Juliet until the end."

Somehow, Tom knew that if he said 'It's not your fault' to that, Dan would shove him into the computers.


	9. Weakening

Aneisha stepped into Zoe's room cautiously, her brown eyes scouring the room around her carefully. Then, making sure to keep to keep her expression neutral, she turned to the thinner of the two redheaded girls sitting on the bed. "Zoe?"

Zoe raised her head slowly, looking unsure of herself. "Did you . . . Did you hurt me too?"

"No, never." Aneisha said, pushing black curls out of her eyes. "I would never hurt you, Zoe."

This seemed to break whatever holds that had been placed on Zoe's mind which concerned Aneisha. Choking on her sobs, Zoe got up and hugged Aneisha tightly.

"We missed you so much, Zo." Aneisha said, hugging her friend back tightly. Zoe was too afraid to ask who she meant by 'we', so she just said, "I knew you'd come for me."

Aneisha's heart dropped. The last time Zoe had said that, it had been directed at Dan, when they'd gone back for Zoe at Sternum.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you, Zoe." Aneisha said quietly. Zoe didn't answer; she just bit her lip and rested her forehead against Aneisha's shoulder, blinking back tears.

"It's going to be okay." Aneisha whispered. Zoe nodded and pulled away, returning back to Keri's side on the bed. Aneisha watched sadly as Zoe wrapped her arms around herself. Aneisha swallowed as she caught a glimpse of the scars on Zoe's wrists that were too even and symmetrical to be there by accident.

As if she was reading Aneisha's mind, Zoe tugged the sleeves of her jacket down so that it hid her pale skin. Aneisha sat down on the bed on Zoe's free side. "You're my best friend, Zoe. Remember that. I'll always be here for you."

Zoe nodded and gave Aneisha a grateful smile before the darker-skinned girl walked out to give Zoe some space.

* * *

Zoe woke up to find that she wasn't alone. There was someone standing in her doorway, holding a small bowl. Moving slowly, Zoe sat up and pushed her auburn hair out of her eyes.

"Zoe." A boy's voice said, as the person with the bowl stepped forward and light hit his face, revealing his identity.

"Tom?" Zoe asked, her muscles relaxing. Apparently deciding that Zoe wasn't so startled by his appearance that she was going to hurt him, Tom moved forward to sit beside her on the bed. He offered her the bowl and a smile lit up her whole face as she took it. Zoe eagerly picked up the spoon and shoved a spoonful of jelly into her mouth as Tom asked, "How've you been, Zoe?"

Zoe swallowed the jelly in her mouth and gave Tom a rueful smile. "I've seen better days. But then again, having the person you thought was the love of your life take advantage of you can do that to a person."

Tom bit back a comment in Dan's defence. He was only able to bite it back because he knew that although Zoe was not the Zoe who had come to be like a sister to him, she was still Zoe. She was still as stubborn and dangerous as a mule.

Instead, Tom gestured towards her wrists. "Can I see them?"

Zoe nodded and set her jelly aside, pushing the sleeves of her jacket up and showing Tom her scarred wrists. Zoe felt his hands gently touch her skin and she looked away as she heard an unknown voice echo in her head, "_Those scars don't make you weak. They make you so much stronger than you could ever imagine because you have all this pain, but you're still here. That makes you the strongest person I know."_

She'd started hearing that voice when she first cut herself. Who _was _that?

Zoe abruptly pulled her arms out of Tom's grasp, grabbing her bowl of jelly and busying herself with eating it.

"What do you remember?" Tom asked quietly.

Zoe hesitated. "I don't exactly know what I remember any more, Tom. I have all these memories of what's happened before and since I was put in that KORPS base, but every now and then I'll get these little flickers of something else. They're not my memories – it's like I'm seeing someone else's."

Tom bit back a grin. He knew immediately that he and Keri were right – there was indeed some kind of block on Zoe's mind and this trickling through of her real memories was evidence that it was weakening.

"Maybe they are yours." Tom said suggestively. "Maybe Dan didn't really hurt you – maybe it was just someone who looks like him."

"I'd know his face anywhere. It was him." Zoe replied. Tom sighed, holding out his hand for her empty bowl. Zoe thanked him and gave him a grateful smile as she passed the bowl back to him. She was already starting to feel tired, although Tom wasn't sure whether that was caused by needing sleep to help her recover or whether it was a by-product of the mind block.

"Get some sleep, Zoe." Tom told her, standing up. "I'll see you later."

Zoe mumbled a response as she lay down on the bed, curling up underneath the blankets and letting her eyes drift closed. When Tom walked out into the main part of HQ, he was grinning.

Keri, Aneisha and Frank looked up as Tom walked in, but Dan's attention remained focused on his phone.

"How is she?" Aneisha asked. Her naturally big brown eyes were full of concern as Tom set the bowl down and walked towards them.

"Well, the block on her mind is weakening." Tom said. Both of the girls' jaws dropped and Dan's head snapped up to look at the brunette. "What?"

"Her real memories are creeping in." Tom said. "I think being away from KORPS is weakening the mind block. If we keep reinforcing all these things she loved, who knows how long it'll be before she remembers?"

Dan felt a grin find its way to his mouth before it faded as he looked back down at his phone, at the photo of him and Zoe outside St Heart's, both of them smiling into the camera. Even though she was here, he missed her. He missed her smile. He wanted his Zoe back.


	10. The Blade

Dan placed the guitar case on his bed, looking around for his tie. Hissing through his teeth in frustration, Dan turned and yanked the top drawer of his bedside table towards him. He didn't find the blue-and-yellow tie that belonged with his school uniform, but he found something else that made him pause.

Lying on top of a set of cardboard targets from the time his dad took him to learn how to shoot a gun and next to a spy pod that was at least ten years old, was a gleaming metallic blade.

It wasn't the blade itself that made Dan hesitate – it was little more than a sharpened butter knife. What made Dan stop was what it had been used for, once upon a time. His gaze travelled from the blade to his wrist, examining the symmetrical whit lines that marked his skin. Against his will, memories of how they'd got there flashed behind his eyes. He saw the blade being sliced across his skin, he saw the blood trailing down his arm.

"No." Dan hissed, slamming the drawer shut and storming into the bathroom. He turned the cold water on and splashed some onto his face. As soon as the icy water hit his skin, Dan felt whatever hold that blade still had on him sever. Dan blinked water out of his eyes and he leaned on the sink, staring at his reflection through his blonde hair. He noticed that there was an almost haunted look in his eyes. After seeing the way Zoe was now and the way she was with him and the same scars that marked his skin now marking hers, he knew that if he could help it, he'd never go back to cutting himself.

As Dan turned the water off, he recalled how much he hated this – hated that Zoe was obviously in so much pain, but he was forced to sit on the sidelines and let his friends handle it, because she believed that he was the cause of it. He recalled Tom's words from yesterday, how he thought that the block on Zoe's mind was weakening. He hoped that it was true. He didn't think that he could take much more of this.

As Dan walked out, he found his tie hanging on the door.

* * *

Keri gave Dan a strange look when he walked into HQ carrying the big, bulky guitar case. "What is that?"

"Come see." Dan replied, setting it on the floor and opening it. Keri wandered over and curiously peered over his shoulder at the wooden guitar nestled inside the case, its wood shining in the green light.

"Your guitar." Keri said. "Nice."

"Mm-hm." Dan replied, standing it up and showing her his name engraved into the back of the neck. "Where's Zoe?"

"Asleep." Keri replied. "She came out here for about ten minutes but then she got tired."

"Her sleeping patterns are like a baby's." Dan commented, placing the guitar back in its case.

"Yeah, well, she has to recover. And that mind block's probably sucking her energy." Keri said.

Dan shrugged. "I guess you're right. How is she, otherwise?"

"Her bruises are half-healed and she's put on a few kilos." Keri told him. "Tom keeps feeding her jelly. I'd slap him for it, but that stuff's got a lot of sugar in it and I think that's the reason why she's putting weight on so fast. She can finally sit in a room with Tom and Aneisha without me and not be constantly looking for an escape route."

"Has Frank gone in to see her?"

Keri nodded. When they'd first brought Zoe in, Frank had insisted on waiting to see her. Tom, Keri and Aneisha had urged him to see her, but Dan had (none too nicely) told them to back off. Dan had figured that Frank was having trouble processing the news of what exactly had happened to Zoe and wanted to wait until he had a clear head to see her. The blonde didn't blame him. It was a lot to process that someone as strong as Zoe, who always seemed to be like a diamond, so unbreakable, had finally been pushed over the edge, even after fifteen years of living with SKUL.

"What happened?" Dan asked.

Keri shrugged. "At first it was kind of strained. But then Zoe just broke down and Frank hugged her, as if she was actually his daughter. And then they were having a nice and long heart to heart about life and it was almost as if Zoe had never gone anywhere."

Dan nodded and looked down, studying the pattern on his guitar case. He felt a hand being placed on his arm and he looked up, meeting Keri's sympathetic gaze. "I just don't get it. She trusts you, she's fine with Neish and Tom and Frank. What makes me so different?"

"My guess? The emotional ties between you and her are so strong and deep that whoever's done this to her has spent more time and energy concealing her memories of you and planting the fake ones in there. You're the pawn – they've used you to break her, but you're the one who holds the whole thing together. When she starts to remember and decipher the difference between her real and fake memories, the whole thing comes crashing down."

Dan gave her a rueful smile. "So the way she feels about me is the reason I'm the only one she can't stand to be in the same room as?"

Keri gave him a small smile. "Pretty much."

Dan sighed, getting up. "Well I'd better try and see if I can sing my way back into her heart, then, shouldn't I?"

Keri followed him. "I'll just sit in the doorway. If she wakes up and you're in there without me, she'll bolt."


	11. Sound the Bugle Now

Keri sat in the doorway, watching as Dan sat in the corner of the room, his back against the wall as he balanced the guitar on his legs. Keri glanced over at Zoe, who was still asleep, as Dan pulled out a pick and started lazily dragging it across the strings. Keri smiled and tilted her head back, letting her eyes drift closed as she listened to the soft melody that he made with the instrument and for a little while, she could pretend that she and Dan weren't on some mission to make Zoe remember who she was. For a little while, Keri could pretend that the three of them were just three semi-normal teenagers.

That flimsy illusion was shattered when Dan started singing. Keri's eyes opened as she watched him, listening to the words that fell from his mouth. She noticed that he sounded like a younger mix of Bryan Adams and Isaac Slade, but at the same time, there was a sorrow in that made him sound much more mature than his sixteen years.

"_Sound the Bugle now._

_Play it just for me._

_As the seasons change, _

_I remember how I used to be._

_Now I can't go on._

_I can't even start._

_I've got nothing left,_

_Just an empty heart._

_I'm a soldier, _

_Wounded so I must give up the fight._

_There's nothing more for me,_

_Lead me away_

_Or leave me lying here."_

Keri watched him curiously, completely ignoring Zoe as she slowly woke, rolling onto her side and opening her eyes a slit to see what all the commotion was about. Upon noticing Dan, every muscle in her entire body tensing in fear as she took in his blonde hair and angular features, recognising immediately who he was. She relaxed soon after as she watched him, listening to the anguished way he played, as if he'd lost his only love. She felt goose bumps rise all over her skin when he started singing again, not just because of how good he sounded, but because he sang with so much emotion, so much pain. Quickly, an image flickered on the backs of her eyelids when she blinked, of a pair of strong arms, the underside covered in scars much like her own. Brushing it away, she focused on the song, letting the music affect her the way songs like that always did, the way the notes seemed to pierce through her and touch her soul.

"_Sound the Bugle now,_

_Tell them I don't care._

_There's not a road I know that leads to anywhere._

_Without a lighter, I fear that I will stumble in the dark._

_Lay right down,_

_Decide not to go on."_

Both girls, the one broken almost beyond repair and the girl determined to fix her, took sharp intakes of breath when the intensity of the music thickened and Dan's voice no longer held so much emotion that it brought tears to Keri's eyes. His voice was raw emotion, in most pure form.

"_Then from on high,_

_Somewhere in the distance,_

_There's a voice that calls, _

'_Remember who you are._

_If you lose yourself, _

_Your courage soon will follow._

_So be strong tonight._

_Remember who you are.'"_

Keri listened as Dan's focus turned completely on the guitar, his blue eyes cast downward to the strings as he carefully plucked at the strings to produce the final notes. When he raised his head to look at Zoe, he found that she was awake and watching him with curious green eyes. Keri watched the two cautiously, every muscle tensed and ready to push Dan out of the room if she needed to. Zoe was still fragile, no matter how strong she seemed.

"Hey." Dan said gently.

"Hey." Zoe said, pulling herself up into sitting position.

Keri shivered. The tension that hung between Dan and Zoe was so thick and heavy that Keri, easily, could have pulled out a knife and cut it with it.

"How are you?" Dan asked quietly.

Zoe shrugged. "I'm getting better." She held out her arm. "I feel fatter."

"Healthier, not fatter." Dan said quietly, his blue eyes regarding her sadly.

Zoe turned her gaze from her arm to him, watching him with an unreadable expression. Finally, she asked, "If you have a voice like that, why aren't you singing all over the world? Why are you protecting a world full of bad people?"

Zoe's question seemed to take Dan completely by surprise. Apparently, the old Zoe would never have asked anything like that. But finally, he said, "When I was a kid I always wanted to be a superhero. I loved Wolverine."

Zoe's brow furrowed as she tried to remember who Wolverine was. Her knowledge of Marvel superheroes had been quite small before she'd been captured by KORPS, but Dan couldn't see any reason for them to have to changed or locked away the memory of him making her watch his favourite superhero movies.

* * *

_Zoe watched with interest as the man with an unusually-shaped beard onscreen fought against the Japanese archer, and finally stabbed him into the shoulders with the claws that came out of his knuckles._

"_What kind of monster are you?" the archer gasped._

"_The Wolverine." The bearded man replied, pushing the archer to the ground. He then pulled the samurai sword from out of his stomach and his skin almost immediately healed over it._

_Dan looked over at Zoe from the corner of his eye, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Once again, he could feel how easy it would be to kiss her. He could already imagine how her lips would taste, how they would feel against his own._

_But as usual, he held back. Zoe had enough to deal with. She didn't need his emotional baggage on top of it._

* * *

"Wolverine's the one played by Hugh Jackman, isn't he?" Zoe asked, almost sounding like her old self. "The immortal one with the claws and his skeleton covered in antiman – "

"Adamantum?" Dan asked.

Zoe smiled. "Yeah, that one."

"Oh, dear God." Keri groaned.

"What?" Dan asked.

"I'm at a Marvel nerd convention." Keri replied with a grin.

Dan turned to Zoe with a grin. "Anyway, when I was a kid, I wanted to be superhero. I love music, but being an agent is the closest humanly possible thing to being a superhero."

Zoe smiled gently. More or less, that answered her question.

* * *

**Yes, I integrated my newfound obession with Wolverine and the X-Men movies into this. If you haven't watched them, you should. Seriously. The movie mentioned in this is 'The Wolverine' and the song that Dan sings is 'Sound the Bugle', originally performed by Bryan Adams. **


	12. Conflictions

When Dan and Keri left, Zoe went off to have a shower. As she stepped underneath the stream of hot water, Zoe sighed, closing her eyes as she dipped her head back. Steam swirled around her, much like the way her emotions swirled within her, as she recalled her conversation with Dan. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt so conflicted, when what she saw with her own two eyes didn't match what her head was telling her. Her memories told her that Dan was ruthless and heartless. That he was cruel and selfish.

But her eyes told her something different.

What she saw told her that Dan was nothing like that, that he was sweet, and gentle and compassionate. Her eyes told her that the boy who had played guitar for her and talked to her about Wolverine and the X-Men Trilogy was not the boy she remembered taking the one thing from her that she could never get back.

With that realisation, something in Zoe snapped. Sobbing, she knelt down on the tile floor as the water washed over her as tears streamed down her cheeks. Zoe ran her fingers through her damp hair and wrapped her arms around herself, her emotions sending her through a whirlwind.

Finally, Zoe managed to make herself get up and turn the shower off, pulling on some clean clothes. She sighed as she dried her hair, looking at her reflection in the mirror as it dried straight on her shoulders. She noticed that there seemed to be more life in her eyes than she remembered.

"Feeling better?" Keri asked as Zoe walked into her room, pulling her up into a ponytail.

"Yeah." Zoe replied, sitting herself down on her bed. She raised her eyes slowly to meet Keri's as Keri crossed her arms over her chest. Zoe avoided Keri's gaze as she watched her carefully, avoiding that intense blue gaze that reminded her a little of the boy who she had two contradicting opinions of.

Finally, Keri asked, "Are you okay, Zoe?"

Zoe sighed, resting her cheek in her palm. "Yeah, I just . . . I'm confused."

"About?" Keri asked, moving to sit beside Zoe on the bed. Keri pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her arms on her knees as she listened for Zoe's reply. Even after just over a week, Zoe seemed different. There was a fire of determination in her eyes. She was still a long way off from the girl she once was, but they were definitely closer to finding that girl again. Keri just hoped that Dan could see past his heartbreak, see through his pain long enough to see that.

"About everything." Zoe replied. After a moment's pause, she gestured towards the main section of HQ, through the wall to her right. "But especially _him_."

Keri sighed. "What's confusing about it?"

"I . . . I remember certain things about him. The type of person that he is. But today, when I was talking to him about something as mundane as _Wolverine_ . . . I wonder if maybe I'm remembering wrong. Maybe the person who raped me just looked similar to him."

Keri had to fight to hold back a grin. She could already see Dan's face when she replayed this conversation to him.

Groaning, Zoe ran her hands through her hair. "This is just . . . This was a lot simpler when I thought he was a horrible person."

"But a lot more painful for him." Keri said. Zoe stared at Keri for a moment, until the girl rose to her feet. "Try and get some sleep, Zoe."

Zoe stared after Keri as she walked out, replaying the girl's words in her head.

"_But a lot more painful for him."_

Meanwhile, Keri was grinning as she practically skipped into the main section of HQ, where Dan, Aneisha, Tom and Frank were gathered.

"How is she?" Frank asked, his blue eyes worried.

Aneisha's eyes widened. "She's starting to remember."

Dan's gaze shifted from the table to Aneisha, to Keri, his blue eyes frantic. "What? Keri, what happened?"

"It seems your chat with her seems to have triggered something, Dan." Keri said, smiling.

"What's she say?"

As fast as she could, Keri relayed her conversation with Zoe. As she spoke, Keri watched as Dan's expression brightened. Up until now, Dan had just had hope and the small flickers that he had seen in the very times he'd been allotted to be in her presence to keep him going, to keep him believing that Zoe was still there. But this? This was hard proof that Zoe was still there. And that made him more desperate than ever to get her back.

"I have an idea." Dan said, getting to his feet.

All attention turned to him. From what Frank and Tom and Aneisha could make out, it was Dan who had triggered this drastic change in the deterioration of the block on Zoe's mind, so naturally, they were willing to listen to any ideas.

"A bonfire." Dan said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire world. "Zoe used to love it when we did those. We could have it on the beach, I could bring my guitar. It'd be just like – "

"The ones we used to have before she left." Aneisha said, smiling. "That is a stroke of genius, Dan."

"Whoa. Wait. Back up." Keri said. "Why have _we _never had any beachside bonfires?"

"Because that was a tradition that started and ended with Zoe." Dan said quietly, almost guiltily. "She'd never had a roasted marshmallow before, so we had a bonfire so she could have one. Then we kind of just kept on having them."

Keri gave him a sad smile. "So, when are we having this bonfire?"


	13. Story Of My Life

Zoe pulled herself up into sitting position as Keri walked in, carrying a black blindfold in one hand. Zoe glanced worriedly between Keri's face and the blindfold, feeling dread begin to settle into her heart. "What's that for?"

"Do you trust me?"

Zoe hesitated for a moment but then she nodded, her eyes fixed warily on the blindfold in Keri's hand. It didn't take much for Keri to realise that Zoe had obviously had some bad experiences with blindfolds, whether it be with SKUL or KORPS.

Unwilling to traumatise her sister further, Keri threw the blindfold across the room, watching as it sailed gracefully through the air to land weightlessly on the stone floor. Keri then turned to Zoe, taking in the relieved expression that flooded the girl's face as she stood and asked, "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Keri replied with a grin.

* * *

Dan looked up from the crackling flames as he heard a car pull up, watching as two girls climbed out. Zoe, dressed in blue jeans, black boots and a floral top and leather jacket she'd obviously borrowed from Keri, turned to her sister and asked, "What are we doing here?"

Keri grinned at her as she helped her over the rocks. "You'll see."

As Zoe landed in the soft sand, she looked up, taking in her surroundings. She took in the bonfire, Tom, Aneisha, Frank and . . . Dan. As soon as she saw the blonde, Zoe took a step back, breathing sharply as she kept her eyes fixed on him. She felt Keri grab her arm gently and she slowly dragged her gaze to her sister from the blonde as Keri said, "Remember, Zoe. The Wolverine."

Suddenly breathing normally, Zoe turned to look at Dan, remembering the gentle look in his eyes as he justified why he was an agent over a musician to her. Zoe took a deep breath and felt Keri's hand leave her arm as they both started walking towards the fire, a small smike of greeting gracing Zoe's features as she sat down beside Keri on a log.

"Dan was just about to sing us a song." Aneisha said.

"I was - " Dan started, breaking off at Aneisha's sharp look. He reached for his guitar case, sitting by his side and pulled out his guitar. He rested it easily across his thighs, raising his head to look at his friends. "So. What song am I playing first?"

"I wanna pick first." Keri said. Shrugging, Dan pulled out his phone, clicked on the shortcut to a guitar chords app and then tossed the phone to Keri. Eagerly, Keri quickly typed in her song before she threw the phone back to Dan, who sighed upon reading her song selection. "One Direction? Really?"

"Really." Keri replied, grinning.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Well, at least it's 'Story of my Life', not, you know . . . 'What Make You Beautiful'. I _hate _that song."

"_If I ever _willingly _go to a boyband concert, Zo, shoot me in the head," _said a male voice in the back of Zoe's head. She didn't know how she knew, but she somehow knew that it was Dan's voice.

"You hate all boybands." Zoe said, raising her gaze from the sand to Dan. She found that everyone was staring at her and she self-consciously trembled under their gazes. "What?"

"How do you know that?" Dan asked.

"I . . . I don't know. I just do." Zoe replied. Keri exchanged a glance with Dan before he focused on the song, his fingertips gliding over the strings effortlessly as his azure eyes flickered between his phone, balanced precariously as his knee, and the neck of the guitar, and which frets his fingers needed to go to when he was done. Zoe listened thoughtfully, his green eyes watching the way he lost himself in what he was doing, the way his world seemed to shrink until it was just him and his guitar.

When Dan finished, Zoe asked quietly, "Can I pick a song?"

Dan looked surprised, but he shrugged and plucked the phone up, off his knee and handed it to her. His fingers brushed against Zoe's as she took and she felt her cheeks flush and she looked down, telling herself that it was just the heat from the flames making her skin do that. Brushing her hair out of her face, Zoe quickly typed in her song before she handed the phone back to Dan, carefully avoiding skin-to-skin contact.

Dan's reaction was far from what anyone expected.

They expected the easy going, joking reaction that Keri's song had brought out, but instead he stared at the phone screen as his eyes glazed over, as if he was remembering something. He looked wistful, as if it were a memory that had been happy at the time, but now it made him sad to think about it.

"Dan?" Keri asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Dan lied. "I just . . . it took me a moment to remember what that song was, that's all."

Keri knew he was lying, but she made no comment as Dan played Zoe's song for her. She could see, from the almost intimate way that he played, the way he didn't even need to look at the phone to know where his fingers needed to go, which notes he needed to play, that the song was very special to him. Keri couldn't say that she was very familiar with the song, she'd only heard it a few times, but Dan did. And from the wistful way that Zoe listened, they obviously had joint history with that song. Ruefully, Keri wondered how drunk she'd have to get him for him to tell her what that history was.


	14. Gone

When the final notes to the song that Keri still couldn't place drifted through the air over the crackling flames, Frank cleared his throat and produced a bag of marshmallows. Naturally, Tom twisted and tried to grab the bag, but Frank stretched so it was out of his reach and while he was distracted, Keri snatched it from his grasp, giggling as she sat back down beside Zoe. Keri tore open the bag and eagerly stuck a marshmallow on both ends of her two-ended sticks, thrusting it into the flames. She passed the bag on to Dan, who set his guitar aside and silently pushed a white marshmallow onto a jagged stick of his own before passing the bag on to Tom and Aneisha.

As they roasted their marshmallows in the flames, they listened as the waves crashed against the shore a few metres behind Dan and the fire crackled as it burned the logs, the wood cracking and splitting before it became completely effulged by the flames. Out of the corner of her eye, Zoe watched Dan as the light from the fire hit his skin, making his cheeks flush and lighting up his eyes. She stopped studying him as Keri pulled their blackened marshmallows away from the fire. Zoe eagerly grabbed one, pulling its outer layer off before happily devouring it. As she licked the sticky marshmallow off her fingers, Dan watched the way the light coming off the fire made her hair seem redder, the angles in her face sharper. Dan realised that she looked like a goddess of fire, an immortal who could manipulate and conjure fire in any way she pleased.

Sighing, Dan got up. "I'm going for a walk."

Keri got up to follow him, but Aneisha shook her head. "Just leave him, Keri. If you follow him now, all you'll get is yelled at."

Reluctantly, Keri relaxed back down beside Zoe, who was suddenly very interesting in cooking two more marshmallows.

Dan walked until the fire was just an orange light in the distance, when he promptly sat down on a large rock and watched the waves crash against the sand. As he pulled on a loose strand on his jeans, Dan remembered the way it had felt to kiss Zoe, the way it had felt to press his lips against her own, to wrap his arms around her petite little body. He remembered the way her smile had made his heart soar – not the half-smiles that were the most anyone ever got from her these days, but real, truly happy smiles. The kind that made her eyes twinkle and dance in the sunlight.

As the ever-present pain in his chest returned, Dan pushed the sleeve of his jacket up, examining the symmetrical lines on his skin in the pale moonlight. He couldn't deny that the prospect of cutting again after all this time was alluring – he discovered that he missed it, missed watching the blood well up on his arms as the stinging in his arms distracted him from the biting pain in his heart, as sick and twisted as that was.

But Dan refused to do that again. He'd just have to do what everyone else did – he would have to stick it out, battle it, like he had done with all those KORPS agents who had tried to get between him and Zoe at STERNUM that day that all their lives changed forever. When he thought of his pain as something tangible that he could fight, like a KORPS agent, it made it easier.

Dan looked up as he heard footsteps, seeing Aneisha standing there, looking at him sympathetically. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Dan replied, pushing down the sleeve of his jacket. Aneisha's eyes followed his movement, but she tried to act as if she hadn't seen anything as she said, "We're going."

"Alright. I'm coming." Dan replied, getting up and started the long walk back to the fire.

* * *

When the five teens walked into HQ, Zoe yawned and turned to Dan. "Can you walk me to my room?"

Dan looked surprised, but he nodded and followed after her as Keri, Aneisha and Tom exchanged a grin.

"Do you think she's back?" Aneisha asked, almost too afraid to let herself hope.

"Maybe." Tom grunted, sitting down at the computer.

Keri found herself unable to conceal her grin as she watched Dan and Zoe's retreating backs. "I think she might be."

When Dan and Zoe reached Zoe's room, Zoe turned to him and said, "You can stop now."

Dan looked confused. "What?"

"You can stop trying to get me to be the person that I was before I was captured by KORPS." Zoe said. "She's not coming back."

"You don't know that." Dan said quietly, looking away.

"Dan." Zoe said quietly. Dan slowly brought his blue eyes to look upon her beautiful face, looking the more like her own than ever. Her green eyes were earnest, but filled with sadness as she said gently, "I know now that you didn't rape me but . . . The girl you loved. She died when all of my memories were taken." As she spoke, she took in Dan's heartbroken expression and felt her heart sink. "Let her go, Daniel."

Hearing her speak his name – his _full_ name – like that, it broke something in Dan's already withered and cracked heart. Blinking back tears that stung his eyes, he muttered, "Goodbye, Zoe," before he walked off, leaving Zoe behind.

As Zoe watched Dan's retreating back, she wondered if she'd ever see him again and for some reason, although she'd just pushed him away – _again _– the thought that he wouldn't be in her life anymore made her feel scared. Blinking back tears of her own, Zoe pushed open her door and stumbled inside her room, shutting the door behind her. Whimpering softly, Zoe leaned against the door as silent tears spilled over, streaming down her cheeks and leaving her skin glistening in the green-coloured light. Zoe's knees turned to jelly and she slid down the door until she was crouched on the floor, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she cried so that no one would hear her.


	15. Can't Let Her Go

"He was looking at his cuts." Aneisha said quietly after a while.

Keri's head snapped up. "You know?"

"Yeah." Tom replied. "How do you know?"

"I'm stubborn." Keri said.

"I saw them." Aneisha said. Then she turned to Tom. "How _do _you know?"

"Let's just say that if you get Dan drunk enough, he'll tell you anything you want to know." Tom replied, grinning. Aneisha rolled her eyes, but then her expression turned to worry. "You don't think he'll start up again, do you?"

Keri shook her head, remembering the way Dan had looked as he told her about the way he used to deal with his pain before he met the love of his life. "He won't."

"How do you know?" Tom asked.

"Zoe." Keri replied quietly. "As long as she's alive, he won't." Keri suddenly looked up. "Where _is _Dan? He should be back by now."

Tom shrugged. "Maybe he's still with Zoe, doing . . . you know . . ."

"They wouldn't be." Keri snapped. "Zoe's still trying to get over the fact that she was _raped _and Dan . . . He's too much of a gentleman to even _think _about doing that with her at this point in time." She stood up, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "I'm going to go look for him."

They waved her off as Keri stepped into the hallway, quickly walking past Zoe's door. She couldn't hear anything coming from inside Zoe's room, but she could hear music coming from further down, from the room she'd taken Dan to when they talked the day that they'd found Zoe. Keri stormed down the hallway and came out into the same room, quickly surveying the room. She could hear a cover of Taylor Swift's 'Red' coming from somewhere and Dan was lying across the couch, a bottle in his hand as he stared off into space.

"Dan." Keri said. Dan's eyes refocused and settled on her, his expression turning bitter. "Have you come to ask me to put this away? To tell me to wallow in my sorrow, instead of drown it?"

Keri knew that if he was being affected like this, his conversation with Zoe had obviously gone very, very badly.

"No." Keri said, sitting down beside him and holding out her hand. "What are we drinking?"

"Vodka, I think." Dan replied, passing over the bottle. As Keri took a mouthful from the bottle, Dan murmured, "Or maybe it's bourbon. Frank only drinks the hard stuff."

"It's Bourbon alright." Keri said, wrinkling her nose as she swallowed and passed the bottle back to Dan. Remembering what Tom had said about Dan telling you anything you want to know if he was drunk enough, Keri glanced over at him. He looked drunk, with his clothes dishevelled and his pupils slightly dilated and reeking of alcohol the way he did.

"What'd she say to you?" Keri asked gently.

Dan, the bottle of bourbon resting between his legs, stared at the wall as the song changed to Ed Sheeran's 'I See Fire'. "I can't do what she wants me to do, Keri."

"What does she want you to do?" Keri asked gently, grudgingly noting that Tom failed to mention that in getting the answer she wanted out of Dan, there was obviously going to be quite a lot of going around in circles.

"I can't let her go." Dan whimpered. "She says that as if it's so easy. As if it's something I haven't _already been trying to do for the past goddamn year_."

"She told you to let her go?"

"She looked me in the eye and told me to move on." Dan said bitterly, taking another swing of the bourbon. "Does she not think that I've tried that? Keri, I've spent the past year trying to get over her and I can't. I just can't . . . I can't do it. You don't know what it's like to love someone that much and then have that pulled away from you. It's enough to make anyone dangerous."

"You know we're going to get Zoe back, don't you?" Keri asked quietly. "I mean, she doesn't really mean that – "

"Doesn't she?" Dan yelled. "She seemed to look like she meant it to me."

Keri snatched the bottle from his grasp and stood. "Maybe you've had enough to drink for one night."

Dan glared up at her and Keri chose that moment to recall that he was a whole head taller than her and every one of her moves she'd learned from him. He'd know what she was going to do before she did it. And as for him, Dan was slightly unpredictable sober. She didn't want to know how he'd be drunk.

True to his nature, Dan said something that he _never _would have allowed to slip, had he been anything but as completely drunk as he was now. "Well, I'll go find a blade then, shall I?"

He stood up to leave, but Keri shoved him back down and pushed the bottle into his chest. "Drink as much as you want, Dan. You can't possibly get any drunker than you are now."

She started to walk out, ignoring him as Dan shouted, "You're just a grade-A bitch and a pain in my arse, Keri! That's all you ever will be! You're like a chihuahua! You just don't shut up!"

Keri paused in the doorway and whirled, slapping him across the face. He glared down at her and Keri said, her voice surprisingly level and calm, "I'll talk to you in the morning, Dan. And you better be sober, I swear to God."

Dan didn't throw anymore insults as she walked away – he just watched her, wondering how he always managed to screw everything up without even trying.

* * *

**No, I am not endorsing underage drinking. The team's meant to be seventeen in this, because of all the themes included in this story, so it's not really that bad. That's my logic. Danielle logic. **


	16. Feisty

When Keri walked into HQ the next morning, before she could even think of a greeting, Tom walked out of the hallway, his expression panicked.

"Tom?" Aneisha asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's Zoe." Tom said. "She's gone."

"How can she be gone?" Keri snapped, stepping towards him. "We're in a secret MI9 base metres underneath the school!"

"She must have walked out to get some air and been kidnapped." Aneisha said calmly.

"Does Dan know?" Keri asked.

"No one's seen him. Apparently he stayed here last night, but none of us have seen him since he disappeared with Zoe."

Keri sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'll go and find him. He needs to know about this."

Aneisha nodded and Keri pushed past Tom, walking quickly down the hallway to the room she'd left Dan in last night. True to her expectations, Dan was passed out on the couch. Sighing, Keri walked out and when she returned, she was carrying a cup of water, which she promptly dumped over Dan's head.

Dan yelled out and got his feet, blinking water out of his eyes as he took in his surroundings. "_Keri? _What the hell – Jesus Christ, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Keri said sharply. "We've got more pressing stuff to deal with."

"Like what?" Dan asked.

"Zoe's missing." Keri said, instinctually taking a stop back.

"She's _what?_" Dan yelled. Keri flinched. "How can she be missing? She doesn't just disappear into thin air!"

"I know that but I'm pretty sure I know where she is." Keri said.

"Where?" Dan asked. Keri noticed the desperate look in his eyes and she fought the urge to hug him.

"Come on." Keri said, leading him out the door.

* * *

Zoe groaned as she woke, her eyes flying open when she realised that she was sitting on cold, stone floor, instead of lying in her warm bed. She jumped around and looked around frantically, fear rising in her chest and biting into her heart.

Each breath coming in quick, desperate, wild gasps, Zoe flew towards the door, banging into the sheet of metal noisily. Desperately biting back tears, Zoe ran her hands across the door, slamming her shoulder into it painfully, hoping it would fly open.

As the tears streamed freely down her cheeks, Zoe heard doors opening and closing and she stumbled backwards, slipping and landing painfully on her back as she looked up, terrified as the door unlocked and swung open, revealing a tall man with sandy-blonde hair and cruel blue eyes.

"You." Zoe hissed as the walls around her mind fell away and she suddenly remembered everything that made her who she was.

* * *

"_Okay, that was possibly the _worst _concert ever." Dan said, laughing._

_Zoe giggled. "Please tell me they're not _all _like _that._"_

"_No." Dan told her, grinning. "Most are much better."_

"_Okay, out of all the concerts you've ever been to." Zoe said. "Which one was the best?"_

"_You ask hard questions." Dan said. "Uh . . . Probably The Fray. Their music is amazing."_

"_Mm-hm." Zoe replied, smiling. "I'd love to go see them sometime. You are right about their music. It _is _amazing."_

"_So which song's your favourite?" Dan asked, studying the way the moonlight hit her face._

"'_Look After You'. I just . . . I like that song because . . ." She shook her head, smiling. "Forget it. It's stupid."_

"_Not it's not." Dan replied, grabbing her arm and bringing them both to a stop. A smile played on Zoe's lips as she protested, "You don't even know what I was going to say!"_

"_I know it's not stupid." Dan replied. "I know _you_, Zoe. Nothing that ever comes out of your mouth is stupid."_

_Zoe took a deep breath, sitting down on a bench in her long light blue dress, reaching up to play with the necklace dangling from around her neck. "I like that song because . . . I never had anyone to look after me. I mean, I had people that fed me and gave me clothes and made sure I was alive, but I never had anyone who truly looked after me. I guess I like the idea of having someone who loves me unconditionally." She laughed bitterly. "Even though everyone knows that happily ever afters don't exist anymore."_

"_I don't believe that." Dan said, sitting down beside her. He took her hand, giving her a small smile. "You will have that love, Zoe. Any guy would _kill _to have you." He gave her a small smile as she looked up at him. "You look pretty, Zoe."_

_Zoe flushed and looked down at her feet. "Thank you, Dan."_

* * *

_Zoe sobbed and kicked, managing to get a good, strong blow into the guy's stomach. He grunted and his grip on her loosened. Glaring, Zoe shoved him away and took a step back, her slender body trembling. "Get the hell away from me!"_

_The man's mouth quirked up into a smile and Zoe suddenly wished Dan was here, his strong arms around her as he pushed her behind him and told this guy to get the hell away from her. _

_But that didn't happen._

_Instead, the guy just kept moving towards her, this creepily appreciative look on his face. It was nothing like the looks she'd received from Dan when she dressed up, like she was a goddess and he felt privileged just to be in her presence. This guy looked at her as if he were taking her clothes off with his mind, shamelessly imagining what the skin beneath looked like. _

"_You can scream all you like, love." The guy said. "Blondie won't hear you. No one's coming to find you. We both know that, don't we, Zoe?"_

_Zoe took a step back and her back collided with the wall. Terrified, with nowhere left to go, she asked, "How do you know my name?"_

"_There are two names that _everyone _in KORPS knows. Zoe London and Daniel Morgan."_

"_Dan . . ." Zoe breathed, her heart aching for him. Ever since she'd left St Heart's and MI High, her heart had yearned for the boy with the short temper and attitude to match, but that was nothing compared to this. _

"_He'll come for you." Zoe said, clenching her jaw. "When he finds out what you've done, only God knows what he'll do."_

"_But it is you who will cause him the most pain." The guy said. Because all you will remember is how he hurt you."_

_Before Zoe could even ask what he meant, the worst night of her life began and she helplessly tried to hold on to the love burned brightly within her._

* * *

Gasping, Zoe got to her feet. "_You. _You son of a bitch. You _bastard_."

The blonde man's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Actually, my parents were married before I was conceived."

Zoe glared. "Stay the hell away from me."

He grinned. "Feisty, are we?"


	17. Too Little, Too Late

Zoe searched within herself for the guy's name. "Adrian."

His expression told her she was right. His mouth curved into a smile, but it was devoid of happiness. It was dark, cruel and almost hungry as he raked his eyes over her in a way that made her skin crawl. "You remember me."

Zoe clamped her jaw shut. "No thanks to you."

"I assume you're referring to my mind block." Adrian said. "Did you like it?"

"Impressive, I'll admit." Zoe said. "My friend wants to know how you did it."

"You mean young Daniel?" Adrian asked. "Wouldn't think that sort of thing would interest him. He seems kind of stupid. I mean, he is blonde." He cocked his head to the side. "But it isn't him you mean, is it? Tell me, exactly how many guys _have _you screwed?"

Zoe glared at him. "I've never slept with anyone _willingly."_ Suddenly her expression softened. "I pity you, Adrian."

"And why is that?"

"Because your childhood must have messed up."

In three quick steps, Adrian had walked towards her and slammed his fist into her face. Zoe fell on the floor and slowly rose, lifting her hand to her throbbing right eye, looking up at Adrian through a curtain of red hair as she hissed, "How the _hell _did you get so messed up?"

Adrian punched her again and Zoe groaned, pushing her hair out of her eyes as she lay on the floor, watching as Adrian walked out, locking the heavy door behind him. Groaning, Zoe pulled herself up into sitting position as she tried to ignore her pounding head.

* * *

"So where do you think he's taken Zoe?" Aneisha asked. She changed a glance over at Dan, who was gripping the edge of the table like a lifeline. All too well, she remembered the STERNUM fiasco. She could practically hear Dan's yells from the day that changed everything echoing in her ears.

"The base. The base we found her at." Keri said.

"You're an idiot if you think she's there!" Dan cried. Aneisha shot him a sharp glance and he shut up, but he still looked like he wanted to punch someone.

"Dan's right." Aneisha said softly. "Zoe won't be there, Keri. KORPS aren't that stupid."

"But this isn't just KORPS we're dealing with, is it?" Keri asked. "Look, think about it. We aren't dealing with KORPS, remember? It's just one guy."

Tom shrugged. "So?"

Keri groaned. "He's not taking orders from anyone. He's basically a rogue. We already know that KORPS agents aren't smartest or the most disciplined of people. He'll take her back there, just because she remembers it as a place where pain was inflicted on her and she'll be scared. Obviously, he won't be thinking about the fact that we're coming after her."

"Keri, you're a genius!" Aneisha cried.

"Let's go." Dan said impatiently.

"Wait." Frank said.

Dan ignored him as he walked into the lift, looking up as the doors closed on him. Keri started after him, but Frank called her back.

"Yeah?" Keri asked, looking impatient, but unlike Dan, able to keep her temper in check.

"Just make sure he doesn't get himself killed. And . . . Keri? Bring her back."

Keri smiled gently, reaching forward and squeezing his hand tightly. "We'll bring her back, Frank. I promise."

* * *

When Zoe regained consciousness, she immediately knew that something was very, very wrong. She could hear the unmistakable sound of water crashing against water and as she moved her legs, it registered that one, the skin covering her right ankle felt tight, as if she were shackled, and two, she could hear the familiar sound of water colliding with water. Then, she processed the information that her clothes were soaked from the waist down and that each time she moved her leg, it felt like she was dragging something along with her.

Groaning, Zoe got to her feet and looked down, horror slowly creeping into her chest and sinking its cold, forbidding teeth into her heart, freezing it inside her chest. Now that she was standing on her feet, the water was only up to her knees, but it was rising fast. To make matters worse, there actually _was _a shackle around her right ankle. Whimpering in fear, Zoe wrapped both her hands around the chain and yanked on it, hoping that it was weak enough to just break away. No such luck.

"Admiring my work, are you?"

Zoe looked up at the sound of Adrian's voice, glaring at him. "What are you going to do?"

Usually, Adrian wold have looked amused. Now, he just looked extremely pissed off. "You're no good to anyone anymore, Zoe. You should be nearly dead by the time lover boy gets here."

Zoe bit back a choked sob, reaching up to brush her tears out of her eyes. "Please. Please don't do this."

"Fine." Adrian said. "I'll release you, but I'll also make you watch while I break _every single one _of that boy's bones."

"Shut the door!" Zoe cried immediately, her voice thick with emotion. "Close the door! Please, just . . . just don't hurt him."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Adrian replied with a triumphant smirk, walking out and shutting the door behind him. Waiting until the door was locked and his retreating footsteps had faded, Zoe knelt down and started working on the lock, trying every trick she'd ever learned from SKUL in her training and just from watching Dan do it. Whatever she tried, nothing worked. It was like it was made of adamantium.

As Zoe gave up and sat back down, allowing her mind to drift to Dan at the thought of adamantium. She felt her chest constrict as she wished for his arms around her, his breath in her ear as he told her that everything was going to be okay.

Zoe let out a loud sob as the temperature of the water seeped into her bones, violent shivers causing her whole body to shake. Zoe tipped her head back and squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered the way he had been before she left – the happy boy who had captured her heart with his carefree, but sensitive attitude.

"Dan, I love you." Zoe breathed before breaking down into sobs, even though she knew it was too little, too late. She just needed to say it at least once.


	18. Found

Keri had never realised just how much Dan slowed for her and Aneisha when they went on missions until now. She supposed that it made sense that he would be a lot faster than she was, given his superior height and leg length, but it didn't make sprinting after him any easier as her feet pounded against the pavement. All that kept her pushing forward was the knowledge that Zoe was with the man who'd raped her, doing God knows what to her.

When Keri finally managed to catch up to Dan, she was moving too fast to stop in time and she slammed into his back. Hissing in annoyance, Dan turned to face her. "Keri! Jesus . . . What the _hell _are you doing here?"

Once upon a time, Keri would have let his superior height and experience and _everything _intimate her, but those days were over. She wasn't a little girl anymore, with countless sisters she'd never met and only a vague understanding of why a criminal force wanted her. She was a young woman now, someone who'd encountered pain and love and loss, and had seen, through Dan, what losing the one you loved could do to you. Keri raised her head defiantly to meet his steely blue gaze and said, "She's my sister, Dan. I'm coming."

Dan's expression softened, but before he could get a word in, Keri rolled her eyes and said, "Don't even think about apologising, Dan. I'm serious. I don't like apologies and you were drunk anyway. You weren't exactly in control of your actions."

Before he could say anything in return, Keri took off running. Within two steps, Dan had caught up with her and was jogging along beside her. Curiously, Keri cast a sideways glance at him. "How are you still standing? Aren't you meant to have a hangover?"

"I wasn't as drunk as you thought I was." Dan said.

Keri rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Dan, I saw you last night and you were _smashed_. If that's not drunk, I don't know what is."

Dan sighed. "I'm not usually like that when I'm drunk."

"But usually you don't have the girl you love telling you that you have to let her go." Keri said quietly.

Dan didn't have an answer for that.

He stayed silent as he matched his pace with Keri's, although every muscle in his body screamed for him to just run and leave her behind, to get to Zoe before it was too late.

Dan nearly groaned when Keri stopped, doubling over as she rested her hands on her knees. "What's wrong?"

"I've gotta . . . get my breath back." Keri panted, looking up at him through the waterfall of red that hung across her face. "Go. I'll catch up."

Dan looked indecisive. "Are you sure?"

Keri nodded swallowing. "Go. Now."

Dan simply nodded and took off, running faster than she'd ever seen anyone run before.

* * *

When Keri got to the base where they'd found Zoe, Dan emerged, everything about him panicked. His blue eyes were wide and wild with worry, his blonde hair hanging in his eyes. Even when he spoke, his voice sounded scared. Seeing him like this - so scared, so vulnerable – made Dan seem much younger than seventeen.

"I can' find her." Dan said desperately. "I checked every room, every cupboard, every _goddamn _space that was any bigger than a cardboard box. I'm telling you, _she's not here."_

"Okay, okay." Keri said, taking a deep breath. "She has to be here. There has to be something else here, like a shed, or a . . ."

"Basement." Dan finished for her flatly.

Keri grinned. "_Now _you're getting it."

"Huh? No, basement!" Dan cried, pointing to two small windows near the ground on the side of the building. Before Keri could say anything, Dan was kneeling down in front of them, searching for the door. Giving up on finding it himself, he pulled out his spy pod and held in front of the wall, listening as the wall clicked and then a section of it swung inwards, revealing a dark staircase.

"Do you hear that?" Keri asked, appearing beside him.

Dan listened, and the sound that he heard brought him so much terror that he had to stop himself from trembling. "Water. He's drowning her!"

Before Keri could reply, Dan had flung himself down the dark staircase with no regard for his life whatsoever. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he slammed into something metal, knocking his head on it. Groaning as the blow set off the slight hangover he'd been pushing down all morning, Dan struggled with the door's lock. It swung open and immediately, water washed out over his boots and the hems of his pants. Slowly, he raised his gaze to look into the room, taking in the rapidly dropping water level and the figure now crouched on the floor, coughing and spluttering as their long auburn hair fell forward to conceal their face from his view.

Dan forced himself to remain rooted in place as Keri moved towards Zoe, taking the soaked girl into her arms, embracing her tightly. It was only as Zoe shifted closer to Keri, resting her head on his shoulder, when he noticed the shackle around her ankle and the chain connecting her to the floor. Hatred for a man he'd never met burning through his veins, Dan stormed towards the two girls and knelt down beside Zoe, managing to get the shackles off of Zoe.

As the fell to the ground, Zoe reached behind her and rubbed at the skin that the shackle had covered. There was a red rectangular mark all around her ankle and she sighed in relief as the blood flow returned to her foot, turning to Dan.

"Thank you." Zoe breathed, pushing hair out of her eyes and giving Dan his first real look at her. Her hair and clothes were soaked through, the cold seeping into her bones and violent tremors causing her entire body to shake. But what struck him the hardest, what made his blood boil was the fact that the skin around her left eye was a dark purple and her bottom lip was split.

Dan turned away from Zoe's injuries as his blood boiled. He could feel that hatred again, bubbling up inside him so viciously that he had to stand and turn his back on the two girls as he fought to get his anger under control.

Zoe looked up at his back, covered in that leather jacket, truly seeing him for the first time in a year, understanding the battle he currently fought within himself as he said, "We should get back."


	19. Control

When Dan, Keri and Zoe emerged, squinting against the bright midday sunlight. Dan's head was pounding from the combined effects of the alcohol he'd consumed the night before and the blow he'd obtained when he'd run into the door.

Keri stared off across the grass, her eyes focused on something. Dan followed her gaze and saw the blonde-haired man, about thirty, walking away from them. Dan felt his fury at everything that Zoe had been forced to endure, but now that the man who was behind it all was only a couple of hundred metres in front of him, he had no hope of keeping his emotion from rearing their ugly head. Dan sprinted after the man, his wet boots spraying up water and mud into the air as the man started sprinting away. But Dan was younger, stronger, faster and easily caught up, tackling him to the ground. Dan felt an elbow connect with his chin and he hissed angrily through his teeth, returning the blow by punching him in the face. The man tried to get up, but Dan pinned him down. Instead, he opted for another blow to Dan's face, catching him in the eye.

God, what was it with this guy giving people black eyes? Dan didn't pay much attention to it as he pulled his arm back, grunting as the slight change in position gave the guy just the opening he needed. Dan grunted as he was pushed backwards, landing on his back in the dirt. He jumped to his feet and managed a kick in the guy's stomach as he advanced, and in return, got a punch in the face. Dan tasted blood and spit it out, wiping the blood from his lips before the man lunged forward. Dan dodged, twisting and using his own attack against him so that Dan could easily shove him to the ground and pin him down again.

"Dan!"

Dan looked up at the sound of his name, looking up to see Zoe and Keri standing together. He only gave Keri a quick glance before his eyes were dragged to Zoe, taking in every part of her. He saw her slender figure that now actually had some weight on it, even if it wasn't as much as he'd like. He took in her half-dried clothes and her drenched auburn hair, her soft pink lips, and finally, her desperate green eyes. He remembered the day they'd found Zoe, the day he'd stormed out of HQ, ready to kill whoever had raped Zoe. He remembered Keri telling him that if he left, she'd never let him near Zoe again. He remembered Zoe's expression the day he had shown her the scars on his arms, how she had told him that those scars made him so much stronger than she ever could have imagined.

Dan hissed through his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel it running through him, the desire to kill this man. Sure, he'd wanted to kill people before, but the urge was never strong enough that he would actually consider doing it. Now, he had to force himself not to as the urge burned through his veins like wildfire and the man sneered, "You won't kill me. You're too afraid that they'll find out that you're _just like me_."

Dan made an exasperated noise and pulled his arm back, punching him in the face. As Zoe grinned while she watched Dan stagger to his feet, Dan hoped that the crunching noise he'd heard meant that he'd broken the guy's nose.

"You're just like me." The guy repeated as Dan yanked him to his feet, giving him a disgusted look.

"Dan!"

Dan looked up at the sound of his name, in time to see Tom and Aneisha sprinting towards them. Tom looked red in the face, but otherwise unharmed as he trailed after Aneisha. Keri pulled Zoe along with her as she walked towards Dan, Aneisha, Tom and the blonde-haired man. Zoe stood with her shoulder behind Keri's, glaring over her sister's shoulder at the man who had taken everything from her, while Aneisha threw a repulsed glance at him. "Is that him?"

"Yeah. That's him." Dan said.

Scowling, Aneisha stepped up to him, her dark brown eyes hard and full of controlled anger. When she spoke her voice was level and Tom, still breathing heavily from his marathon run, felt a shiver run down his spine as she said, "This is for raping my best friend, you bastard."

She punched him in the face and all five teens watched as he slumped to the ground.

"That's the least he deserves." Dan commented, nudging at the man's side with the heel of his boot, as if he were a dead, diseased bird that he couldn't touch.

Keri smiled, wrapping her arm around Zoe's wet shoulders. "Come on. Let's get you into something warm and dry."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Keri asked.

Zoe nodded, smiling gratefully up at her sister. "Thank you."

Keri inclined her head in recognition, watching Zoe as she looked away, her arms wrapped around herself.

"Okay, come on." Keri said, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "What's wrong?"

Zoe bit back a retort about how she'd just come face-to-face with the man who raped her and asked softly, "Can you get Dan for me? I . . . I think I owe him an apology."

"He'll be right in." Keri promised, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her sister's forehead before she walked out. Dan, Aneisha and Tom looked up as she approached, worry painted across their features.

"She wants to see you." Keri said, nodding towards Dan. The blonde looked surprised, but he walked out without a word. Keri watched him go and when she turned back to the darker-skinned girl and the brown-haired boy beside her, she was grinning.

"What?" Aneisha asked.

"It's her." Keri said.

"You said that last night." Tom pointed out.

"I know." Keri said. "I was wrong then, but I'm right now. It's her. I'm telling you, she remembers. Something happened in that basement that made her remember."

Aneisha gave her a doubtful look. "How do you know it's Zoe?"

"Her eyes." Keri said. "Before, there was a kind of . . . fragility in them. Now, all I can see is strength. But I can still pick out when she'd thinking about Dan."

"How?" Aneisha asked, intrigued.

"Because before she looked scared whenever she was thinking about him." Keri said. "Now she just looks really happy."

Tears sparkling in her eyes, Aneisha turned to Tom, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. "She's back. Tom, she's back."

They embraced tightly, their faces buried in the sides of each other's necks, both murmuring that their sister was back.


	20. Don't Want To Be Romeo and Juliet

Dan rapped his knuckles lightly against the doorframe three times, watching as Zoe's head snapped up to look at him. He sucked in a breath as he was assaulted by the sight of her in that state – the darkened skin around her eye, her split lip, the ring of red around her ankle. God, she didn't deserve this.

Zoe leaned back against the wall as she sat on her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. "His name is Adrian."

Dan's brow furrowed and Zoe smiled. "That man you beat the living daylights out of? His name is Adrian."

Dan stared at her, taking in playful way her lips curved up into a smile. There was something different about her, something familiar. Even as his mind processed what may be happening, it refused to send him the instruction to his mouth to ask her.

"I don't want to be Romeo and Juliet anymore." Zoe said softly, getting off the bed and fixing her intense green eyes on him.

Hearing that nickname, as usual, inspired a reaction out of Dan. His blue eyes flickering across her features, he asked gently, "So what do you want to do about it?"

Zoe didn't answer. She simply waited patiently until Dan had reached her and placed a hand on the side of his neck, pushing up on the tips of her toes to press her mouth against his softly. She felt him gasp in surprise before all miscommunications between his head and his mouth were non-existent, his hand coming up to caress the side of her face as he gently kissed her, his mouth soft and warm against her own.

With a soft hissing noise, Zoe drew back, pressing her lips together despite her split lip. She felt herself smile as Dan started, "Wh – what . . ."

Zoe looked up at him, absorbing his features. She memorised his high cheekbones, his tanned skin, his pale blonde hair, his azure eyes. "I remember, Dan."

She saw Dan's shoulders hunch as he took a deep breath, his eyes staring into her own as he cupped her face. "What do you remember, exactly?"

"I remember the day you found me." Zoe said. "I was in the back of a truck and you didn't trust me, until I saved Frank's life. I remember when we went to Boldovia, when we got those _damned _nicknames."

At the mention of the origins of their 'Romeo and Juliet' nicknames, Dan smiled. Zoe paid no attention to it as she continued. "I remember what happened in Utland – when the Shadow Master told me I was Mastermind's daughter. I remember . . . I remember _these." _Zoe said, reaching for his arm and pushing up the sleeves of his jacket so that she could see the scars that decorated his skin. She traced them with her fingertips before she let his arm fall from her grasp, her voice suddenly small and quiet as she kept her eyes fixed on the ground and said, "I remember that I left."

Dan watched her as she slowly raised her eyes to meet his, her beautiful eyes that glittered with unshed tears, tears that made his heart contract inside his chest. She already harboured so much pain. He didn't want her to be in pain or sad anymore. He wanted to see her smile again, see her perfectly happy again.

"I hurt you." Zoe whimpered. "I knew I was hurting you and I still did it. I still walked away, I still hurt you because I thought that that's what would have been _best _for you."

Dan's brow furrowed. "How was it best for me?"

"Because you risk your life so much for me." Zoe replied. "I couldn't stand the thought of you getting hurt because of me – because I couldn't defend myself."

"Zoe – "

"After STERNUM, I kept having these nightmares, of – "

"For God's sake." Dan hissed under his breath, moving forward and kissing her lightly. He felt Zoe gasp as her hand came up to the back of his neck, her movements nothing like they had been in previous weeks. Previously, her movements had been quick and nervous. Now, each touch was slow and lingering, their kiss slow as they re-familiarised themselves with each other. Dan made sure that his hands never strayed any higher or lower than her waist, and they only separated when Zoe's split lip began to give her grief.

Zoe looked up at Dan curiously as her hand slipped from his neck, returning to her side as he pressed his forehead against her's and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I love you, Zoe. I've tried not to – tried everything humanly possible to just get you _out _of my head, but I just . . . I can't. I can't get you out of my head, I can't change the way I feel about you and honestly, I'm sick of trying."

Zoe smiled up at him, and he felt that after a year of oxygen deprival, he could finally breathe again, seeing that smile. He kissed her forehead and she burrowed her head into the crook of his neck.

"I love you, too, Dan." Zoe breathed against his skin as she leaned into him, his arm going around her waist.

"You're tired." Dan said finally, realising that she was half-asleep and that he was supporting all her body weight.

Zoe looked up at him. "I don't want you to go."

"Then I won't. But you need sleep, Zoe. It's been a long day."

Reluctantly, Zoe allowed him to tug her over to the bed. She lay her body down on the bed, curling into Dan's side as he lay beside her, his arm going around her waist. Zoe started to say something, but it was lost somewhere in translation because in her tired state, her mouth wouldn't form the words she wanted it to.

Dan laughed, turning his head to kiss her temple. "Get some sleep, Zoe. We'll talk some more when you wake up."

Zoe nodded sleepily. "Can you sing to me?"

Dan nodded. "What song?"

Zoe shot him as sharp a look as she could manage. "You know what song."

Dan smiled and started singing softly. Zoe allowed his husky voice to lull her to sleep, hating each moment that she was asleep, because it was one more moment that she was away from him.


	21. Safe

As Zoe slept peacefully, curled into his side, Dan finally allowed himself to process what had had just happened. After spending so long clinging to the tiny, fragile hope that someday the mind block would wear off and Zoe would remember everything that made her who she was again, he couldn't process the information that the girl lying in his arms was the girl he remembered, the girl he loved.

So as not to wake her, Dan twisted his head so he could see her face and brushed her hair off her face. He noticed that even now she slept differently. Before, she had slept curled in on herself, as if she wanted to disappear inside herself as she murmured and whimpered in her sleep. Now, she slept stretched out against him, her head resting against his shoulder. She didn't make any noise as she slept and he could see a small smile playing on her mouth.

Sighing, Dan looked down at her arm, resting across his stomach. He traced the pale white lines on her skin, his heart aching with everything she'd been through. He felt tears pricking at his eyes as he bent his head and kissed each of her scars, one by one.

"I'm so sorry, Zo." Dan whispered as he raised his head.

"I don't know what you're apologising for." Zoe murmured, opening her eyes and looking up at his face. "It's not your fault."

Dan gave her a weak smile, watching as she slowly pulled herself up into sitting position, regarding him with careful green eyes. Finally, she said, "You want to know how I got to be in that base."

"You don't have to, I just – " Dan started.

Zoe shook her head. "No, you should know." She looked down and took a deep breath. "He found me in Texas. I was in Dallas when he came and found me just after my class at this martial arts school I was working at. He showed up for one class and then never returned, so I thought I'd never see him again. A week later, I was walking back to Abi's when I was pulled into an alley and gagged. When I woke up, I was in this . . ." She took another deep breath. "I was in this room that had obviously . . . it looked like a little girl's room."

"Pink curtains, big pink bed, pink carpet, etcetera, etcetera?" Dan asked.

Zoe nodded feebly. "It was horrible. And then when he came back, he . . . he, um . . ." She broke off as she erupted into sobs, her arms wrapped around herself. His heart aching in his chest, Dan pulled towards him and wrapped his arms around her shaking body, tucking her head under his chin. Zoe settled her head into the crook of his neck as she fisted his jacket, the leather it was made of smooth against her hands.

" . . . He raped me." Zoe finally managed to choke out between sobs. "He raped me and then he replaced my memories. And no matter what I did, I couldn't fight him."

"Why couldn't you fight him?" Dan asked softly, kissing her head as his hand ran up and down her back gently.

"Because he trained me." Zoe whimpered. "He taught me everything I know. I couldn't fight him."

Dan buried his face in her shoulder and held her tighter, muttering, "God, I hope I broke his nose."

Zoe giggled through her tears, pulling away from him. "I just want to put it behind me."

Dan brushed her hair out of her eyes. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Well, trying to get back to the way things were before I left, except with Keri and maybe . . ." She looked up at Dan shyly. "Maybe giving us a shot."

Dan stared at her for a moment before he leaned forward, pressing his mouth gently against hers. He felt Zoe smile as she placed her hand on his arm and moved her mouth against his in a kiss. When they pulled apart, Zoe looked up at him with eyes full of wonder as he asked, "Is that the answer you wanted?"

Zoe smiled and nodded, lacing her fingers with his.

* * *

"They've been in there for at least three hours." Tom complained.

"Can you give them a break?" Keri snapped. "Seriously, she's been gone for a year and Zoe's spent the last _God knows _how many months believing that Dan raped her. I wouldn't think that a few hours to themselves would be too much to ask for. Do you?"

Tom looked down guiltily and muttered, "No."

"Didn't think so." Keri said in satisfaction.

"Was I seriously asleep for three hours?"

Tom, Aneisha and Keri looked up to see Dan and Zoe standing in the doorway, their fingers intertwined. Zoe grinned as Aneisha yelled out her name and launched herself towards her, hugging her tightly. Zoe laughed as she broke away from Dan and hugged Aneisha tightly. Then, when the two girls separated, Zoe turned to Tom and hugged him warmly. Dan exchanged surprised looks with Keri and Aneisha. Tom was the most conservative out of all them. He _hated _people touching him and hugging him.

Tom looked sheepish as he pulled away from Zoe, who suddenly wore a sober expression as she turned to her sister. Keri regarded Zoe with an unreadable expression. If Dan had been paying less attention to Zoe and more attention to Keri, this would have surprised him.

"Thank you." Zoe said finally, her voice small and very childlike. "Thank you for everything that you've done for me, Keri."

Keri surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug. Zoe quickly relaxed into her sister's embrace and murmured, "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to." Keri replied, so low that only Zoe would hear. "I wanted to help Dan and I wanted to help you. Because that's what sisters do, right? We look out for each other."

Keri felt Zoe smiling against her shoulder. "Thank you . . . for looking out for him when I didn't."

"Well somebody has to." Keri replied. "Just do me a favour and . . . don't leave again, alright? I don't want to see him like that again. I want to see him happy. All the time."

Zoe nodded as she pulled away, giving her sister a small smile. "I promise, Keri."

Keri smiled warmly at her sister, just as Frank came out and asked in disbelief, "_Zoe?!"_

"Frank!" Zoe cried happily, throwing herself at him and hugging him. Frank stumbled backwards a few steps as he caught her, throwing a questioning glance at Dan over Zoe's head. Dan grinned and nodded at him, watching as Frank pulled away from Zoe, taking her face in his hands and staring into her eyes, trying to gauge whether it was really her or not.

"Zoe?" Frank asked cautiously, his blue eyes darting to look at each of her features individually.

"Hi, Frank." Zoe said brightly, her eyes shining with happiness.


	22. Youth

"Oh, thank God." Frank breathed, hugging her tightly again. Zoe laughed against Frank's chest and looked over at Keri, who grinned at her happily. Finally, Frank released Zoe and she walked back to Dan, her fingers intertwining with his as he asked, "Where's Adrian?"

Frank looked puzzled for a moment, before he realised who the blonde was talking about. "Oh. He's . . . in the next room. I can't even . . . I can't even stand the sight of him." He looked pained as he looked from Tom, to Aneisha, to Keri and then Dan. "Which one of you got into a fight with him?"

Dan looked down sheepishly and Zoe giggled. "That would be Dan."

Dan raised his head, his lips pressed together. "Am I in trouble?"

Frank's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Trouble? I wanted to congratulate you. For a fight against the guy who trained Zoe, you did a good job."

"Um . . . thanks?" Dan said uncertainly, unsure of who that comment was complimenting – him, Zoe or Adrian.

Frank grinned. "Well, you broke his nose."

Dan grinned, his azure eyes sparkling with triumph. Zoe laughed as Dan wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"What happens now?" Keri asked.

"He'll go into the MI9 cells." Frank replied. "If it were just an average person sexually assaulting one of our agents, he'd be put into a regular prison. But since Adrian's ex-SKUL _and _ex-KORPS . . . he'll be put into MI9 custody."

Zoe nodded, the smile gone from her mouth. She looked relieved as she slumped against Dan, closing her eyes. She felt Dan sigh as his arms tightened around her, his lips against her hair as he whispered, "It's okay, Zoe. You're safe. I won't let him touch you. He won't get near you ever again."

Zoe nodded, opening her eyes as Frank said, "Dan? Can I talk to you?"

Dan and Zoe exchanged confused glances, but Zoe pressed a quick kiss to Dan's mouth before she walked out with Tom, Aneisha and Keri. When the elevator doors had closed on them, Dan turned to Frank, his expression questioning even as his heart pounded nervously in his chest. Despite what his hair colour suggested, he wasn't stupid. Frank was the closest thing that Zoe had to a father, so he was fairly certain that he knew what this was about.

"Am I correct in assuming that you and Zoe are . . . " Frank paused as he searched for the right words and Dan arched an eyebrow, realising this was probably just as nerve-wracking for Frank as it was for him. After all, Frank didn't have any children of his own and this probably wasn't a discussion he would have had with any members of his previous MI High team members. "Together? Well, you'd be right in assuming that."

Frank tried to gauge the boy's emotions through his expression. Finally, he asked, "What exactly does she mean to you?"

"What exactly does Stella mean to you?" Dan shot back, a ghost of a smile flashing across his features.

Frank hesitated, the question taking him by surprise. Finally, he said, "Everything."

Dan nodded knowingly, a small smile gracing his features. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Frank shook his head at him. "Just don't hurt her, or I'll knock your head off of your shoulders."

If Frank had expected Dan to look scared at the half-empty threat, he was majorly disappointed. Dan simply raised his head and said, "If I hurt her, I promise I'll come running to you, _asking _you to knock my head off of my shoulders."

Frank grinned and dropped his hand down onto Dan's shoulder. "You're a good kid, Dan. I know you'll look after her."

Dan's jaw set. "I'm not a kid."

* * *

"Oh, look. He actually survived." Keri said casually as Dan approached.

"How'd you go?" Zoe asked as Dan sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Oh, you know." Dan said flippantly. "The usual – threats against my life if I ever hurt you – "

"_What?" _Aneisha, Tom, Keri and Zoe cried – although Zoe was the only who actually sounded concerned. The others just sounded amused.

"What did he say?" Zoe asked.

"Nothing, Zo."

"Dan – "

"It's nothing important, Zo." Dan said.

Zoe gave him a pointed look. "Dan, I am literally about to slap you. What did he say?"

Dan stood up, a challenging look in his eyes. "You wouldn't get close enough to slap me."

Zoe's mouth curved into a smirk, her eyes glinting. "Oh, yeah?" She dived forward, her arm swinging towards him. Grinning, Dan danced out of her way and Zoe watched him, sighing as she got up and darted after him. Dan laughed as he dodged out of Zoe's way, slipping behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and swinging her around, causing her to shriek hysterically.

Keri watched them with a furrowed brow, her blue eyes watching the blonde and her sister carefully.

"What's with you?" Aneisha asked.

"It's weird." Keri said. "Hearing him laugh, seeing him happy, it's so weird. He's always been . . . grumpy, I suppose."

"Grumpy's not the word I'd use." Aneisha said. "But it's a good look on him, isn't it?"

Keri nodded, smiling as she turned to Aneisha as the darker-skinned girl said, "That's the way he used to be. He used to be this happy little boy and then – "

"He used to be little?" Keri interrupted, excited at the prospect of the possibility of once being taller than Dan.

Aneisha laughed, shaking her head. "No, he's always been a goddamn giant."

"I heard that!" Dan cried, his arms wrapped tightly around Zoe's waist.

"Heard what?" Zoe murmured.

Dan leaned down and whispered it in her ear, a smile finding its way onto his mouth as giggles erupted from her.

"My point is that, after Zoe left, he changed." Aneisha said. "He became so withdrawn and upset that were times when we thought he might start cutting again. But having you around caused something to change in him. It was like . . . Being around you was like being close to Zoe."

"He hated me when we first met." Keri said quietly.

"To him, you were a reminder of what he'd lost." Aneisha replied softly. "But you watch, Keri, in the next week or so, he'll be so much happier. You'll see what he's really like."

Keri grinned as Dan and Zoe sat back down.

" . . . what he told you, Dan." Zoe was saying.

Dan sighed. "Fine. He said that if I hurt you, he'd knock my head off my shoulders."

"_What?!" _Zoe shrieked, as Keri, Tom and Aneisha burst out laughing, holding onto each other to stop themselves from falling off of the bench. To their surprise, Zoe crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Who's to say that I can't decapitate you myself?"

"Oh, believe me, I trust that you can do it." Dan told her.

Zoe grinned at him. "And don't think that I won't, pretty boy."

Keri gaped at them both, her blue eyes wide. "Did you _seriously _just have a whole conversation about chopping his head off?"

Zoe giggled and blushed, looking down at her feet as Dan wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple.


End file.
